Electric traction

Electrification systems are classified by three main parameters:

 Voltage
 Current
 Direct current (DC)
 Alternating current (AC)
 Frequency

 Contact System
 third rail
 overhead line (catenary)

Standardised voltages
Six of the most commonly used voltages have been selected for European and international standardisation. These are
independent of the contact system used, so that, for example, 750 V DC may be used with either third rail or overhead
lines (the latter normally by trams).

There are many other voltage systems used for railway electrification systems around the world, and the list of current
systems for electric rail traction covers both standard voltage and non-standard voltage systems.

The permissible range of voltages allowed for the standardised voltages is as stated in standards BS EN 50163[1] and
IEC 60850.[2] These take into a

Direct current

Early electrification systems used low-voltage DC. Electric motors on the train were fed directly from the traction supply
and were controlled using starting resistances which were progressively shunted as the train gathered speed
and relays that connected the motors in series or parallel.

The most common DC voltages are 600 V and 750 V for trams and metros and 1,500 V, 650/750 V third rail for the
former Southern Region of the UK, and 3 kV overhead. The lower voltages are often used with third or fourth rail systems,
whereas voltages above 1 kV are normally limited to overhead wiring for safety reasons. Suburban trains (S-Bahn) lines in
Hamburg, Germany, operate using a third rail with 1,200 V, the French SNCF Culoz-Modane line in the Alps used 1,500 V
and a third rail until 1976, when a catenary was installed and the third rail removed. In the UK, south of London, 750 V
third rail is used while, for inner London, 650 V is used to allow inter-running with London Underground, which uses a
650 V fourth rail system but with the fourth (centre) rail connected to the running rails in inter-running areas.

During the mid-20th century, rotary converters or mercury arc rectifiers were used to convert utility (mains) AC power to
the required DC voltage at feeder stations. Today, this is usually done by semiconductor rectifiers after stepping down the
voltage from the utility supply.
The DC system is quite simple but it requires thick cables and short distances between feeder stations because of the
high currents required. There are also significant resistive losses. In the United Kingdom, the maximum current that can
be drawn by a train is 6,800 A at 750 V[citation needed]. The feeder stations require constant monitoring. The distance between
two feeder stations at 750 V on third-rail systems is about 2.5 km (1.6 mi). The distance between two feeder stations at
3 kV is about 7.5 km (4.7 mi).

If auxiliary machinery, such as fans and compressors, is powered by motors fed directly from the traction supply, they may
be larger because of the extra insulation required for the relatively high operating voltage. Alternatively, they can be
powered from a motor-generator set, which offers an alternative way of powering incandescent lights which otherwise
would have to be connected as series strings (bulbs designed to operate at traction voltages being particularly inefficient).
Now solid-state converters (SIVs) and fluorescent lights can be used.

1,500 V DC is used in the Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong (parts), Republic of Ireland, Australia (parts), India (around
the Mumbai area alone,[3] has been converted to 25 kV AC like the rest of the country[4]), France (also using 25 kV 50 Hz
AC), New Zealand (Wellington) and the United States (Chicago area on the Metra Electric district and the South Shore
Line interurban line). In Slovakia, there are two narrow-gauge lines in the High Tatras (one a cog railway). In Portugal, it is
used in the Cascais Line and in Denmark on the suburban S-train system.

Different Traction System

Electric Drive:
In this system of traction the locomotive draws electrical energy from the distribution network
(from a contact wire suspended above the track or from an additional rail laid alongside it) fed at
suitable points from either a central power station or substations. The electrical traction system has
numerous advantages over steam-engine drive. These advantages are cleanliness, low maintenance
cost, high starting torque, low starting time, high schedule speed, increased traffic handling capacity,
possibility of using regenerative braking, saving in high grade coal, absence of unbalanced forces
etc. The drawbacks of electric traction system are heavy initial expenditure for laying out overhead
electric supply system, dislocation of traffic for hours in case of power failure for few minutes,
provision of negative booster, interference to communication lines running along the track etc.