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108-741: PTC was established on January 1, 1940, by the merger of the PRT and several smaller, then-independent transit companies operating in and near the city. It operated a citywide system of bus, trolley , and trackless trolley routes, the Market–Frankford Line (subway-elevated rail), the Broad Street Line (subway), and the Delaware River Bridge Line (subway-elevated rail to City Hall in Camden, New Jersey , and now part of

216-528: A live rail , electric rail or conductor rail , is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track . It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost fully segregated from the outside environment. Third-rail systems are usually supplied from direct current electricity. Modern tram systems with street-running avoid

324-516: A streetcar or trolley in the United States) is a type of urban rail transit consisting of either individual railcars or self-propelled multiple unit trains that run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way . The tramlines or tram networks operated as public transport are called tramways or simply trams/streetcars. Because of their close similarities, trams are commonly included in

432-622: A tram engine in the UK) at the head of a line of one or more carriages, similar to a small train. Systems with such steam trams included Christchurch , New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; other city systems in New South Wales ; Munich , Germany (from August 1883 on), British India (from 1885) and the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway (from 1888) in Ireland. Steam tramways also were used on

540-557: A wildcat strike aimed at preventing the promotion of African American employees to conductors and other positions. The strike ended when President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered troops into the city to run the cars. In 1955, majority control of PTC was acquired by the National City Lines holding company, which had a record of replacing trolleys with buses in other cities. NCL followed suit in Philadelphia. In 1954,

648-511: A "conductor rail") for the purpose. On most systems, the conductor rail is placed on the sleeper ends outside the running rails, but in some systems a central conductor rail is used. The conductor rail is supported on ceramic insulators (known as "pots"), at top contact or insulated brackets , at bottom contact, typically at intervals of around 10 feet (3.0 m). The trains have metal contact blocks called collector shoes (also known as contact shoes or pickup shoes) which make contact with

756-532: A 750 V DC third-rail system. The section from Vuosaari to Vuosaari harbour is not electrified, as its only purpose is to connect to the Finnish rail network, whose gauge differs only by a couple of millimetres from that of the metro. The route has been previously used by diesel shunting locomotives moving new metro trains to the electrified section of the line. The new tramway in Bordeaux (France) uses

864-457: A British Class 442 EMU . In the event of a collision with a foreign object, the beveled end ramps of bottom running systems can facilitate the hazard of having the third rail penetrate the interior of a passenger car. This is believed to have contributed to the death of five passengers in the Valhalla train crash of 2015. Modern systems, such as ground-level power supply (first used in

972-520: A Vermont blacksmith, had invented a battery-powered electric motor which he later patented. The following year he used it to operate a small model electric car on a short section of track four feet in diameter. Attempts to use batteries as a source of electricity were made from the 1880s and 1890s, with unsuccessful trials conducted in among other places Bendigo and Adelaide in Australia, and for about 14 years as The Hague accutram of HTM in

1080-423: A cap and linear welded along the centre line of the rail. Because aluminium has a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than steel, the aluminium and steel must be positively locked to provide a good current collection interface. A third method rivets aluminium bus strips to the web of the steel rail. As with overhead wires, the return current usually flows through one or both running rails, and leakage to ground

1188-498: A changeover to third rail made at Drayton Park railway station . A third rail is still used in the tunnel section of the route, because the size of the tunnels leading to Moorgate station was too small to allow for overhead electrification. The North Downs Line is not electrified on those parts of the line where the North Downs service has exclusive use. The electrified portions of the line are: The Helsinki Metro uses

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1296-476: A high traffic density. Because of mechanical limitations on the contact to the third rail, trains that use this method of power supply achieve lower speeds than those using overhead electric wires and a pantograph . Nevertheless, they may be preferred inside cities as there is no need for very high speed and they cause less visual pollution . The third rail is an alternative to overhead lines that transmit power to trains by means of pantographs attached to

1404-615: A less stable train vehicle. Nevertheless, it was sometimes used at the beginning of the development of electric trains. The oldest electric railway in the world, Volk's Railway in Brighton, England, was originally electrified at 50 volts DC using this system (it is now a three-rail system). Other railway systems that used it were the Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway and the Ungerer Tramway . The third rail

1512-496: A level crossing at the Kedzie station in an apparent attempt to urinate. The end ramps of conductor rails (where they are interrupted, or change sides) present a practical limitation on speed due to the mechanical impact of the shoe, and 161 km/h (100 mph) is considered the upper limit of practical third-rail operation. The world speed record for a third rail train is 175 km/h (109 mph) attained on 11 April 1988 by

1620-410: A novel system with a third rail in the centre of the track. The third rail is separated into 10 m (32 ft 9 + 3 ⁄ 4  in) long conducting and 3 m (9 ft 10 + 1 ⁄ 8  in) long isolation segments. Each conducting segment is attached to an electronic circuit which will make the segment live once it lies fully beneath the tram (activated by a coded signal sent by

1728-726: A similar technology, Pirotsky put into service the first public electric tramway in St. Petersburg, which operated only during September 1880. The second demonstration tramway was presented by Siemens & Halske at the 1879 Berlin Industrial Exposition. The first public electric tramway used for permanent service was the Gross-Lichterfelde tramway in Lichterfelde near Berlin in Germany, which opened in 1881. It

1836-438: A smooth engagement of the train's contact shoes. The position of contact between the train and the rail varies: some of the earliest systems used top contact, but later developments use side or bottom contact, which enabled the conductor rail to be covered, protecting track workers from accidental contact and protecting the conductor rail from frost, ice, snow and leaf-fall. Because third-rail systems, which are located close to

1944-640: A third rail (current feed, outside the running rails) and fourth rail (current return, midway between the running rails), is used by a few steel-wheel systems; see fourth rail . The London Underground is the largest of these (see railway electrification in Great Britain ). The main reason for using the fourth rail to carry the return current is to avoid this current flowing through the original metal tunnel linings which were never intended to carry current, and which would suffer electrolytic corrosion should such currents flow in them. Another four-rail system

2052-508: A train from an external source was by using both rails on which a train runs, whereby each rail is a conductor for each polarity, and is insulated by the sleepers . This method is used by most scale model trains ; however, it does not work as well for large trains as the sleepers are not good insulators. Furthermore, the electric connection requires insulated wheels or insulated axles, but most insulation materials have poor mechanical properties compared with metals used for this purpose, leading to

2160-946: A well-known tourist attraction . A single cable line also survives in Wellington (rebuilt in 1979 as a funicular but still called the " Wellington Cable Car "). Another system, with two separate cable lines and a shared power station in the middle, operates from the Welsh town of Llandudno up to the top of the Great Orme hill in North Wales , UK. Hastings and some other tramways, for example Stockholms Spårvägar in Sweden and some lines in Karachi , used petrol trams. Galveston Island Trolley in Texas operated diesel trams due to

2268-404: Is a power surge or a break in the wires. Depending on train and track geometry, gaps in the conductor rail (e.g., at level crossings and junctions) could allow a train to stop in a position where all of its power pickup shoes are in gaps, so that no traction power is available. The train is then said to be "gapped". Another train must then be brought up behind the stranded train to push it on to

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2376-523: Is line M1 of the Milan Metro , where current is drawn by a lateral, flat bar with side contact, with return via a central rail with top contact. Along some sections on the northern part of the line an overhead line is also in place, to allow line M2's trains (that use pantographs and higher voltage, and have no contact shoes) to access a depot located on line M1. In depots, line M1 trains use pantographs because of safety reasons, with transition made near

2484-659: Is not considered serious. Where trains run on rubber tyres, as on parts of the Lyon Metro , Paris Métro , Mexico City Metro , Santiago Metro , Sapporo Municipal Subway , and on all of the Montreal Metro and some automated guideway transit systems (e.g. the Astram Line ), a live rail must be provided to feed the current. The return is effected through the rails of the conventional track between these guide bars ( see rubber-tyred metro ). Another design, with

2592-640: Is still in operation in modernised form. The earliest tram system in Canada was built by John Joseph Wright , brother of the famous mining entrepreneur Whitaker Wright , in Toronto in 1883, introducing electric trams in 1892. In the US, multiple experimental electric trams were exhibited at the 1884 World Cotton Centennial World's Fair in New Orleans, Louisiana , but they were not deemed good enough to replace

2700-734: Is the sole survivor of the fleet). In Italy, in Trieste , the Trieste–Opicina tramway was opened in 1902, with the steepest section of the route being negotiated with the help of a funicular and its cables. Cable cars suffered from high infrastructure costs, since an expensive system of cables , pulleys , stationary engines and lengthy underground vault structures beneath the rails had to be provided. They also required physical strength and skill to operate, and alert operators to avoid obstructions and other cable cars. The cable had to be disconnected ("dropped") at designated locations to allow

2808-459: Is usually located outside the two running rails, but on some systems it is mounted between them. The electricity is transmitted to the train by means of a sliding shoe , which is held in contact with the rail. On many systems, an insulating cover is provided above the third rail to protect employees working near the track; sometimes the shoe is designed to contact the side (called "side running") or bottom (called "bottom running" or "under-running") of

2916-713: The Bleecker Street Line until its closure in 1917. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas , until 1926 and were commemorated by a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1983. The last mule tram service in Mexico City ended in 1932, and a mule tram in Celaya, Mexico , survived until 1954. The last horse-drawn tram to be withdrawn from public service in

3024-933: The Lamm fireless engines then propelling the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar in that city. The first commercial installation of an electric streetcar in the United States was built in 1884 in Cleveland, Ohio , and operated for a period of one year by the East Cleveland Street Railway Company. The first city-wide electric streetcar system was implemented in 1886 in Montgomery, Alabama , by the Capital City Street Railway Company, and ran for 50 years. In 1888,

3132-630: The New York metropolitan area ; the SEPTA Market–Frankford Line in Philadelphia ; and London's Docklands Light Railway . Electric traction trains (using electric power generated at a remote power station and transmitted to the trains) are considerably more cost-effective than diesel or steam units, where separate power units must be carried on each train. This advantage is especially marked in urban and rapid transit systems with

3240-707: The PATCO Speedline ) which became SEPTA's City Transit Division. PTC operated the rapid transit lines in urban Philadelphia – principally the Market–Frankford Line and Broad Street Line – leasing their fixed infrastructure from the City of Philadelphia. Most suburban transit lines were operated by other private companies, including the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, known as Red Arrow (trolley lines),

3348-814: The Pyrenees also features a third rail. Many suburban lines that ran out of the Paris Saint Lazare station used third-rail (bottom contact) feed. To mitigate investment costs, the Rotterdam Metro , basically a third-rail-powered system, has been given some outlying branches built on surface tracks as light rail (called sneltram  [ nl ] in Dutch), with numerous level crossings protected with barriers and traffic lights. These branches have overhead wires. The RandstadRail project also requires Rotterdam Metro trains to run under wires along

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3456-715: The Richmond Union Passenger Railway began to operate trams in Richmond, Virginia , that Frank J. Sprague had built. Sprague later developed multiple unit control, first demonstrated in Chicago in 1897, allowing multiple cars to be coupled together and operated by a single motorman. This gave rise to the modern subway train. Following the improvement of an overhead "trolley" system on streetcars for collecting electricity from overhead wires by Sprague, electric tram systems were rapidly adopted across

3564-824: The West Midlands Metro in Birmingham , England adopted battery-powered trams on sections through the city centre close to Grade I listed Birmingham Town Hall . Paris and Berne (Switzerland) operated trams that were powered by compressed air using the Mekarski system . Trials on street tramways in Britain, including by the North Metropolitan Tramway Company between Kings Cross and Holloway, London (1883), achieved acceptable results but were found not to be economic because of

3672-483: The loading gauge . There is also a risk of pedestrians walking onto the tracks at level crossings and accidentally touching the third rail, unless grade separation is fully implemented. In the United States, a 1992 Supreme Court of Illinois decision affirmed a $ 1.5 million verdict against the Chicago Transit Authority for failing to stop an intoxicated person from walking onto the tracks at

3780-452: The tramway of Bordeaux in 2003), avoid the safety problem by segmenting the powered rail, with each segment being powered only when fully covered by the vehicle which utilizes its power. Third-rail systems using top contact are prone to accumulations of snow, or ice formed from refrozen snow, and this can interrupt operations. Some systems operate dedicated de-icing trains to deposit an oily fluid or antifreeze (such as propylene glycol ) on

3888-1241: The 1850s, after which the "animal railway" became an increasingly common feature in the larger towns. The first permanent tram line in continental Europe was opened in Paris in 1855 by Alphonse Loubat who had previously worked on American streetcar lines. The tram was developed in numerous cities of Europe (some of the most extensive systems were found in Berlin, Budapest , Birmingham , Saint Petersburg , Lisbon , London , Manchester , Paris , Kyiv ). The first tram in South America opened in 1858 in Santiago, Chile . The first trams in Australia opened in 1860 in Sydney . Africa's first tram service started in Alexandria on 8 January 1863. The first trams in Asia opened in 1869 in Batavia (Jakarta), Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) . Limitations of horsecars included

3996-713: The 1894-built horse tram at Victor Harbor in South Australia . New horse-drawn systems have been established at the Hokkaidō Museum in Japan and also in Disneyland . A horse-tram route in Polish gmina Mrozy , first built in 1902, was reopened in 2012. The first mechanical trams were powered by steam . Generally, there were two types of steam tram. The first and most common had a small steam locomotive (called

4104-420: The 1980s. The history of passenger trams, streetcars and trolley systems, began in the early nineteenth century. It can be divided into several distinct periods defined by the principal means of power used. Precursors to the tramway included the wooden or stone wagonways that were used in central Europe to transport mine carts with unflanged wheels since the 1500s, and the paved limestone trackways designed by

4212-481: The Australian state of Queensland between 1909 and 1939. Stockholm , Sweden, had a steam tram line at the island of Södermalm between 1887 and 1901. Tram engines usually had modifications to make them suitable for street running in residential areas. The wheels, and other moving parts of the machinery, were usually enclosed for safety reasons and to make the engines quieter. Measures were often taken to prevent

4320-677: The Belgian high-speed section and Brussels Midi station or 1.5 kV DC on the railway lines in the south of France for seasonal services. As originally delivered, the Class 373 units were additionally fitted with 750 V DC collection shoes , designed for the journey in London via the suburban commuter lines to Waterloo . A switch between third-rail and overhead collection was performed while running at speed, initially at Continental Junction near Folkestone, and later on at Fawkham Junction after

4428-462: The British newspaper Newcastle Daily Chronicle reported that, "A large number of London's discarded horse tramcars have been sent to Lincolnshire where they are used as sleeping rooms for potato pickers ". Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century, and many large metropolitan lines lasted into the early 20th century. New York City had a regular horsecar service on

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4536-774: The Entertainment Centre, and work is progressing on further extensions. Sydney re-introduced trams (or light rail) on 31 August 1997. A completely new system, known as G:link , was introduced on the Gold Coast, Queensland , on 20 July 2014. The Newcastle Light Rail opened in February 2019, while the Canberra light rail opened on 20 April 2019. This is the first time that there have been trams in Canberra, even though Walter Burley Griffin 's 1914–1920 plans for

4644-583: The Irish coach builder John Stephenson , in New York City which began service in the year 1832. The New York and Harlem Railroad's Fourth Avenue Line ran along the Bowery and Fourth Avenue in New York City. It was followed in 1835 by the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad in New Orleans, Louisiana , which still operates as the St. Charles Streetcar Line . Other American cities did not follow until

4752-430: The Netherlands. The first trams in Bendigo, Australia, in 1892, were battery-powered, but within as little as three months they were replaced with horse-drawn trams. In New York City some minor lines also used storage batteries. Then, more recently during the 1950s, a longer battery-operated tramway line ran from Milan to Bergamo . In China there is a Nanjing battery Tram line and has been running since 2014. In 2019,

4860-436: The North Sydney line from 1886 to 1900, and the King Street line from 1892 to 1905. In Dresden , Germany, in 1901 an elevated suspended cable car following the Eugen Langen one-railed floating tram system started operating. Cable cars operated on Highgate Hill in North London and Kennington to Brixton Hill in South London. They also worked around "Upper Douglas" in the Isle of Man from 1897 to 1929 (cable car 72/73

4968-511: The PTC trolley system included 45 lines, using more than 1,500 trolley cars. Between 1954 and 1958, three-fourths of the trolley lines were abandoned, and 984 trolley cars had been scrapped, replaced by 1,000 new buses. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) was established in 1964, as part of efforts by the Pennsylvania legislature to coordinate government subsidies to various transit and railroad companies in southeastern Pennsylvania. The provision of public transit service

5076-463: The Romans for heavy horse and ox-drawn transportation. By the 1700s, paved plateways with cast iron rails were introduced in England for transporting coal, stone or iron ore from the mines to the urban factories and docks. The world's first passenger train or tram was the Swansea and Mumbles Railway , in Wales , UK. The British Parliament passed the Mumbles Railway Act in 1804, and horse-drawn service started in 1807. The service closed in 1827, but

5184-413: The Second Street Cable Railroad, which operated from 1885 to 1889, and the Temple Street Cable Railway, which operated from 1886 to 1898. From 1885 to 1940, the city of Melbourne , Victoria, Australia operated one of the largest cable systems in the world, at its peak running 592 trams on 75 kilometres (47 mi) of track. There were also two isolated cable lines in Sydney , New South Wales, Australia;

5292-505: The Southern Penn Bus Company (bus lines), and the Philadelphia and Western Railroad ( Norristown and Strafford interurban lines). PTC's network also included the Philadelphia trolleybus system , which was much smaller, along with numerous bus lines. Among PTC's first actions was to begin replacing its aging fleet of vehicles. In 1940, the company placed orders for 130 PCC streetcars , 50 trackless trolleys , and 53 motor buses . In 1944, during World War II , white PTC workers engaged in

5400-401: The Southern Region third rail network from Farringdon southwards and on overhead line northwards to Bedford , Cambridge and Peterborough . The changeover is made whilst stationary at Farringdon when heading southbound, and at City Thameslink when heading northbound. On the Moorgate to Hertford and Welwyn suburban service routes, the East Coast Main Line sections are 25 kV AC, with

5508-562: The UK at Lytham St Annes , Trafford Park , Manchester (1897–1908) and Neath , Wales (1896–1920). Comparatively little has been published about gas trams. However, research on the subject was carried out for an article in the October 2011 edition of "The Times", the historical journal of the Australian Association of Timetable Collectors, later renamed the Australian Timetable Association. The world's first electric tram line operated in Sestroretsk near Saint Petersburg invented and tested by inventor Fyodor Pirotsky in 1875. Later, using

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5616-410: The UK took passengers from Fintona railway station to Fintona Junction one mile away on the main Omagh to Enniskillen railway in Northern Ireland. The tram made its last journey on 30 September 1957 when the Omagh to Enniskillen line closed. The "van" is preserved at the Ulster Transport Museum . Horse-drawn trams still operate on the 1876-built Douglas Bay Horse Tramway on the Isle of Man , and at

5724-461: The actual spacing depends on the carrying capacity, maximum speed, and service frequency of the line. One method for reducing current losses (and thus increase the spacing of feeder/substations, a major cost in third rail electrification) is to use a composite conductor rail of a hybrid aluminium/steel design. The aluminium is a better conductor of electricity, and a running face of stainless steel gives better wear. There are several ways of attaching

5832-508: The advantages over earlier forms of transit was the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on steel rails, allowing the trams to haul a greater load for a given effort. Another factor which contributed to the rise of trams was the high total cost of ownership of horses. Electric trams largely replaced animal power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Improvements in other vehicles such as buses led to decline of trams in early to mid 20th century. However, trams have seen resurgence since

5940-460: The busiest tram line in Europe, with a tram running once per minute at rush hour. Bucharest and Belgrade ran a regular service from 1894. Ljubljana introduced its tram system in 1901 – it closed in 1958. Oslo had the first tramway in Scandinavia , starting operation on 2 March 1894. The first electric tramway in Australia was a Sprague system demonstrated at the 1888 Melbourne Centennial Exhibition in Melbourne ; afterwards, this

6048-439: The capital then in the planning stage did propose a Canberra tram system. In Japan, the Kyoto Electric railroad was the first tram system, starting operation in 1895. By 1932, the network had grown to 82 railway companies in 65 cities, with a total network length of 1,479 km (919 mi). By the 1960s the tram had generally died out in Japan. Two rare but significant alternatives were conduit current collection , which

6156-458: The car up the hill at a steady pace, unlike a low-powered steam or horse-drawn car. Cable cars do have wheel brakes and track brakes , but the cable also helps restrain the car to going downhill at a constant speed. Performance in steep terrain partially explains the survival of cable cars in San Francisco. The San Francisco cable cars , though significantly reduced in number, continue to provide regular transportation service, in addition to being

6264-402: The cars to coast by inertia, for example when crossing another cable line. The cable then had to be "picked up" to resume progress, the whole operation requiring precise timing to avoid damage to the cable and the grip mechanism. Breaks and frays in the cable, which occurred frequently, required the complete cessation of services over a cable route while the cable was repaired. Due to overall wear,

6372-409: The city's hurricane-prone location, which would have resulted in frequent damage to an electrical supply system. Although Portland, Victoria promotes its tourist tram as being a cable car it actually operates using a diesel motor. The tram, which runs on a circular route around the town of Portland, uses dummies and salons formerly used on the Melbourne cable tramway system and since restored. In

6480-453: The classic tramway built in the early 20th century with the tram system operating in mixed traffic, and the later type which is most often associated with the tram system having its own right of way. Tram systems that have their own right of way are often called light rail but this does not always hold true. Though these two systems differ in their operation, their equipment is much the same. Third rail A third rail , also known as

6588-416: The combined coal consumption of the stationary compressor and the onboard steam boiler. The Trieste–Opicina tramway in Trieste operates a hybrid funicular tramway system. Conventional electric trams are operated in street running and on reserved track for most of their route. However, on one steep segment of track, they are assisted by cable tractors, which push the trams uphill and act as brakes for

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6696-420: The conductor rail to prevent the frozen build-up. The third rail can also be heated to alleviate the problem of ice. Unlike overhead line equipment, third-rail systems are not susceptible to strong winds or freezing rain , which can bring down overhead wires and hence disable all trains. Thunderstorms can also disable the power with lightning strikes on systems with overhead wires , disabling trains if there

6804-465: The conductor rail, or a jumper cable may be used to supply enough power to the train to get one of its contact shoes back on the live rail. Avoiding this problem requires a minimum length of trains that can be run on a line. Locomotives have either had the backup of an on-board diesel engine system (e.g., British Rail Class 73 ), or have been connected to shoes on the rolling stock (e.g. Metropolitan Railway ). The first idea for feeding electricity to

6912-556: The conductor rail. The traction current is returned to the generating station through the running rails. In North America, the conductor rail is usually made of high conductivity steel or steel bolted to aluminium to increase the conductivity. Elsewhere in the world, extruded aluminium conductors with stainless steel contact surface or cap, is the preferred technology due to its lower electrical resistance, longer life, and lighter weight. The running rails are electrically connected using wire bonds or other devices, to minimise resistance in

7020-743: The depots away from revenue tracks. Third rail electrification is less visually obtrusive than overhead electrification . Several systems use a third rail for part of the route, and other motive power such as overhead catenary or diesel power for the remainder. These may exist because of the connection of separately owned railways using the different motive systems, local ordinances, or other historical reasons. Several types of British trains have been able to operate on both overhead and third-rail systems, including British Rail Class 313 , 319 , 325 , 350 , 365 , 375/6 , 377/2 , 377/5 , 377/7 , 378/2 , 387 , 373 , 395 , 700 and 717 EMUs, as well as Class 92 locomotives. Network Rail claims to run

7128-430: The downhill run. For safety, the cable tractors are always deployed on the downhill side of the tram vehicle. Similar systems were used elsewhere in the past, notably on the Queen Anne Counterbalance in Seattle and the Darling Street wharf line in Sydney. In the mid-20th century many tram systems were disbanded, replaced by buses, trolleybuses , automobiles or rapid transit . The General Motors streetcar conspiracy

7236-401: The electric circuit. Contact shoes can be positioned below, above, or beside the third rail, depending on the type of third rail used: these third rails are referred to as bottom-contact, top-contact, or side-contact, respectively. The conductor rails have to be interrupted at level crossings , crossovers , and substation gaps. Tapered rails are provided at the ends of each section to allow

7344-446: The engines from emitting visible smoke or steam. Usually the engines used coke rather than coal as fuel to avoid emitting smoke; condensers or superheating were used to avoid emitting visible steam. A major drawback of this style of tram was the limited space for the engine, so that these trams were usually underpowered. Steam trams faded out around the 1890s to 1900s, being replaced by electric trams. Another motive system for trams

7452-429: The entire length of cable (typically several kilometres) had to be replaced on a regular schedule. After the development of reliable electrically powered trams, the costly high-maintenance cable car systems were rapidly replaced in most locations. Cable cars remained especially effective in hilly cities, since their nondriven wheels did not lose traction as they climbed or descended a steep hill. The moving cable pulled

7560-439: The fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. In 1905

7668-440: The fact that there are already overhead electric wires on part of the route for freight and Regional Eurostar services, led to the change. Also in London, the West London Line changes power supply between Shepherd's Bush and Willesden Junction , where it meets the North London Line. South of the changeover point, the WLL is third rail electrified, north of there, it is overhead . The cross-city Thameslink service runs on

7776-460: The ground, present electric shock hazards, high voltages (above 1500 V) are not considered safe. A very high current must therefore be used to transfer adequate power to the train, resulting in high resistive losses , and requiring relatively closely spaced feed points ( electrical substations ). The electrified rail threatens electrocution of anyone wandering or falling onto the tracks. This can be avoided by using platform screen doors , or

7884-551: The late 19th and early 20th centuries a number of systems in various parts of the world employed trams powered by gas, naphtha gas or coal gas in particular. Gas trams are known to have operated between Alphington and Clifton Hill in the northern suburbs of Melbourne , Australia (1886–1888); in Berlin and Dresden , Germany; in Estonia (1921–1951); between Jelenia Góra , Cieplice , and Sobieszów in Poland (from 1897); and in

7992-402: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. There was one particular hazard associated with trams powered from a trolley pole off an overhead line on the early electrified systems. Since the tram relies on contact with the rails for the current return path, a problem arises if the tram is derailed or (more usually) if it halts on a section of track that has been heavily sanded by a previous tram, and

8100-495: The main lines to serve north and mid Kent. As a consequence, these trains are dual-voltage enabled, as the majority of the routes along which they travel are third-rail electrified. In London, the North London Line changes from third rail to overhead electrification between Richmond and Stratford at Acton Central . The entire route originally used third rail, but several technical electrical earthing problems, plus

8208-534: The necessity of overhead wire and a trolley pole for street cars and railways. While at the University of Denver he conducted experiments which established that multiple unit powered cars were a better way to operate trains and trolleys. Electric tramways spread to many European cities in the 1890s, such as: Sarajevo built a citywide system of electric trams in 1895. Budapest established its tramway system in 1887, and its ring line has grown to be

8316-533: The oldest operating electric tramway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram was opened near Vienna in Austria. It was the first tram in the world in regular service that was run with electricity served by an overhead line with pantograph current collectors . The Blackpool Tramway was opened in Blackpool, UK on 29 September 1885 using conduit collection along Blackpool Promenade. This system

8424-550: The opening of the first section of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link . Between Kensington Olympia railway station and North Pole depot , further switchovers were necessary. The dual-voltage system did cause some problems. Failure to retract the shoes when entering France caused severe damage to the trackside equipment, causing SNCF to install a pair of concrete blocks at the Calais end of both tunnels to break off

8532-582: The poor paving of the streets in American cities which made them unsuitable for horsebuses , which were then common on the well-paved streets of European cities. Running the horsecars on rails allowed for a much smoother ride. There are records of a street railway running in Baltimore as early as 1828, however the first authenticated streetcar in America, was the New York and Harlem Railroad developed by

8640-401: The risk can be reduced by placing the conductor rail on the side of the track away from the platform, when allowed by the station layout. The risk can also be reduced by having a coverboard , supported by brackets , to protect the third rail from contact, although many systems do not use one. Where coverboards are used, they reduce the structure gauge near the top of rail. This in turn reduces

8748-424: The risk of electrocution by the exposed electric rail by implementing a segmented ground-level power supply , where each segment is electrified only while covered by a vehicle which is using its power. The third-rail system of electrification is not related to the third rail used in dual-gauge railways. Third-rail systems are a means of providing electric traction power to trains using an additional rail (called

8856-415: The stainless steel to the aluminium. The oldest is a co-extruded method, where the stainless steel is extruded with the aluminium. This method has suffered, in isolated cases, from de-lamination (where the stainless steel separates from the aluminium); this is said to have been eliminated in the latest co-extruded rails. A second method is an aluminium core, upon which two stainless steel sections are fitted as

8964-542: The suburban tramway lines around Milan and Padua ; the last Gamba de Legn ("Peg-Leg") tramway ran on the Milan- Magenta -Castano Primo route in late 1957. The other style of steam tram had the steam engine in the body of the tram, referred to as a tram engine (UK) or steam dummy (US). The most notable system to adopt such trams was in Paris. French-designed steam trams also operated in Rockhampton , in

9072-498: The third rail shoes if they had not been retracted. An accident occurred in the UK when a Eurostar driver failed to retract the pantograph before entering the third-rail system, damaging a signal gantry and the pantograph. On 14 November 2007, Eurostar's passenger operations were transferred to St Pancras railway station and maintenance operations to Temple Mills depot, making the 750 V DC third rail collection equipment redundant and

9180-560: The third rail shoes were removed. The trains themselves are no longer fitted with a speedometer capable of measuring the speed in miles per hour (the indication used to automatically change when the collector shoes were deployed). In 2009, Southeastern began operating domestic services over High Speed 1 trackage from St Pancras using its new Class 395 EMUs. These services operate on the High Speed line as far as Ebbsfleet International or Ashford International , before transferring to

9288-444: The third rail, allowing the protective cover to be mounted directly to its top surface. When the shoe slides along the top surface, it is referred to as "top running". When the shoe slides along the bottom surface, it is less affected by the build-up of snow, ice, or leaves, and reduces the chances of a person being electrocuted by coming in contact with the rail. Examples of systems using under-running third rail include Metro-North in

9396-558: The tracks. Siemens later designed his own version of overhead current collection, called the bow collector . One of the first systems to use it was in Thorold, Ontario , opened in 1887, and it was considered quite successful. While this line proved quite versatile as one of the earliest fully functional electric streetcar installations, it required horse-drawn support while climbing the Niagara Escarpment and for two months of

9504-570: The train) and switch it off before it becomes exposed again. This system (called Alimentation par Sol (APS), meaning 'current supply via ground') is used in various locations around the city but especially in the historic centre: elsewhere the trams use the conventional overhead lines (see also ground-level power supply ). In summer 2006 it was announced that two new French tram systems would be using APS over part of their networks. These will be Angers and Reims , with both systems expected to open around 2009–2010. The French Culoz–Modane railway

9612-480: The trains. Whereas overhead-wire systems can operate at 25 kV or more, using alternating current (AC), the smaller clearance around a live rail imposes a maximum of about 1200 V, with some systems using 1500 V ( Line 4, Guangzhou Metro , Line 5, Guangzhou Metro , Line 3, Shenzhen Metro ), and direct current (DC) is used. Trains on some lines or networks use both power supply modes (see § Mixed systems below). All third-rail systems throughout

9720-416: The tram and completing the earth return circuit with their body could receive a serious electric shock. If "grounded", the driver was required to jump off the tram (avoiding simultaneous contact with the tram and the ground) and pull down the trolley pole, before allowing passengers off the tram. Unless derailed, the tram could usually be recovered by running water down the running rails from a point higher than

9828-466: The tram loses electrical contact with the rails. In this event, the underframe of the tram, by virtue of a circuit path through ancillary loads (such as interior lighting), is live at the full supply voltage, typically 600 volts DC. In British terminology, such a tram was said to be 'grounded'—not to be confused with the US English use of the term, which means the exact opposite. Any person stepping off

9936-427: The tram, the water providing a conducting bridge between the tram and the rails. With improved technology, this ceased to be an problem. In the 2000s, several companies introduced catenary-free designs: Alstom's Citadis line uses a third rail, Bombardier's PRIMOVE LRV is charged by contactless induction plates embedded in the trackway and CAF URBOS tram uses ultracaps technology As early as 1834, Thomas Davenport ,

10044-804: The wider term light rail , which also includes systems separated from other traffic. Tram vehicles are usually lighter and shorter than main line and rapid transit trains. Most trams use electrical power, usually fed by a pantograph sliding on an overhead line ; older systems may use a trolley pole or a bow collector . In some cases, a contact shoe on a third rail is used. If necessary, they may have dual power systems—electricity in city streets and diesel in more rural environments. Occasionally, trams also carry freight . Some trams, known as tram-trains , may have segments that run on mainline railway tracks, similar to interurban systems. The differences between these modes of rail transport are often indistinct, and systems may combine multiple features. One of

10152-409: The winter when hydroelectricity was not available. It continued in service in its original form into the 1950s. Sidney Howe Short designed and produced the first electric motor that operated a streetcar without gears. The motor had its armature direct-connected to the streetcar 's axle for the driving force. Short pioneered "use of a conduit system of concealed feed" thereby eliminating

10260-437: The world are energised with DC supplies. Some of the reasons for this are historical. Early traction engines were DC motors, and the then-available rectifying equipment was large, expensive and impractical to install onboard trains. Also, transmission of the relatively high currents required results in higher losses with AC than DC. Substations for a DC system will have to be (typically) about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) apart, though

10368-532: The world's first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle tramcar at an assembly facility in Qingdao . The chief engineer of the CSR subsidiary CSR Sifang Co Ltd. , Liang Jianying, said that the company is studying how to reduce the running costs of the tram. Trams have been used for two main purposes: for carrying passengers and for carrying cargo. There are several types of passenger tram: There are two main types of tramways,

10476-546: The world's largest third-rail network. On the southern region of British Rail, freight yards had overhead wires to avoid the electrocution hazards of a third rail. The locomotives were fitted with a pantograph as well as pick-up shoes. The Class 373 used for international high-speed rail services operated by Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel runs on overhead wires at 25 kV AC for most of its journey, with sections of 3 kV DC on Belgian lines between

10584-401: The world. Earlier electric trains proved difficult or unreliable and experienced limited success until the second half of the 1880s, when new types of current collectors were developed. Siemens' line, for example, provided power through a live rail and a return rail, like a model train , limiting the voltage that could be used, and delivering electric shocks to people and animals crossing

10692-682: Was a case study of the decline of trams in the United States. In the 21st century, trams have been re-introduced in cities where they had been closed down for decades (such as Tramlink in London), or kept in heritage use (such as Spårväg City in Stockholm). Most trams made since the 1990s (such as the Bombardier Flexity series and Alstom Citadis ) are articulated low-floor trams with features such as regenerative braking . In March 2015, China South Rail Corporation (CSR) demonstrated

10800-567: Was becoming increasingly unprofitable in the 1950s and 1960s, and cities across the country were municipalizing their transit systems or creating regional public transit authorities. SEPTA acquired the Philadelphia Transportation Company in 1968, taking possession of PTC at noon on September 30, 1968. The total price paid to PTC stockholders for the purchase was $ 47.9 million (equivalent to $ 420 million in 2023). Tram A tram (also known as

10908-435: Was built by Werner von Siemens who contacted Pirotsky. This was the world's first commercially successful electric tram. It drew current from the rails at first, with overhead wire being installed in 1883. In Britain, Volk's Electric Railway was opened in 1883 in Brighton. This two kilometer line along the seafront, re-gauged to 2 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 825 mm ) in 1884, remains in service as

11016-636: Was electrified with 1500 V DC third rail, later converted to overhead wires at the same voltage. Stations had overhead wires from the beginning. The French branch line which serves Chamonix and the Mont Blanc region ( Saint-Gervais-le-Fayet to Vallorcine ) is third rail (top contact) and metre gauge. It continues in Switzerland, partly with the same third-rail system, partly with an overhead line. The 63 km (39 mi) long Train Jaune line in

11124-487: Was installed as a commercial venture operating between the outer Melbourne suburb of Box Hill and the then tourist-oriented country town Doncaster from 1889 to 1896. Electric systems were also built in Adelaide , Ballarat , Bendigo , Brisbane , Fremantle , Geelong , Hobart , Kalgoorlie , Launceston , Leonora , Newcastle , Perth , and Sydney . By the 1970s, the only full tramway system remaining in Australia

11232-566: Was restarted in 1860, again using horses. It was worked by steam from 1877, and then, from 1929, by very large (106-seat) electric tramcars, until closure in 1960. The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was something of a one-off however, and no street tramway appeared in Britain until 1860 when one was built in Birkenhead by the American George Francis Train . Street railways developed in America before Europe, due to

11340-628: Was tested in San Francisco , in 1873. Part of its success is attributed to the development of an effective and reliable cable grip mechanism, to grab and release the moving cable without damage. The second city to operate cable trams was Dunedin , from 1881 to 1957. The most extensive cable system in the US was built in Chicago in stages between 1859 and 1892. New York City developed multiple cable car lines, that operated from 1883 to 1909. Los Angeles also had several cable car lines, including

11448-635: Was the Melbourne tram system. However, there were also a few single lines remaining elsewhere: the Glenelg tram line , connecting Adelaide to the beachside suburb of Glenelg , and tourist trams in the Victorian Goldfields cities of Bendigo and Ballarat. In recent years the Melbourne system, generally recognised as the largest urban tram network in the world, has been considerably modernised and expanded. The Adelaide line has been extended to

11556-411: Was the cable car, which was pulled along a fixed track by a moving steel cable, the cable usually running in a slot below the street level. The power to move the cable was normally provided at a "powerhouse" site a distance away from the actual vehicle. The London and Blackwall Railway , which opened for passengers in east London, England, in 1840 used such a system. The first practical cable car line

11664-722: Was widely used in London, Washington, D.C., and New York City, and the surface contact collection method, used in Wolverhampton (the Lorain system), Torquay and Hastings in the UK (the Dolter stud system), and in Bordeaux , France (the ground-level power supply system). The convenience and economy of electricity resulted in its rapid adoption once the technical problems of production and transmission of electricity were solved. Electric trams largely replaced animal power and other forms of motive power including cable and steam, in

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