| Traction Power Supply System for AC Railways - Simulation and Measurements |
| Electric railways that are supplied by AC voltage are mostly used for longer distance railway lines, such as mainlines and suburban commuter railways. Most of this system is based on single-phase ac supplies. An overhead contact system (OCS) is used to transmit the supply current to the trains, via a pantograph or several pantographs on top of the locomotives / electric multiple units ( EMUs). Some typical (or not so typical!) supply voltages: 25kV, 50Hz - Examples are the West Coast Mainline (UK), most Chinese railways (about 40,000 km). 25kV, 60Hz - One example is the North East Corridor between Boston and New Haven in the USA 13kV, 60Hz - One example is the Metro-North Railroad commuter line (New Haven line) from New Haven to Pelham, New York. This stretch of railway lines also serve as paert of the North East Corrisor. 11kV, 25Hz - One example is the North East Corrisor between New York and Washington DC in the USA The Acela Express trains in the North East Corridor run between Boston and Washington DC via New York. These poor beasts have to experience three different supply voltage systems as listed above! A presentation was made in a Railway Age conference in 2006.This presentation has some details of the Acela Express performance in terms of power demand and saving by using the regenerative braking features of the traction drives. Also in this presentation are the simulation studies for the traction power system for the New Haven line of Metro-North Railroad. Click here to view the presentation (PDF file). |
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