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100-585: Indian locomotive class WAP-5 is a class of electric locomotives used by Indian Railways . The first ten locomotives were imported from ABB in Switzerland in 1995 and later manufactured by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in India. On 3 July 2014, a WAP-5 set an Indian speed record by hauling a train between Delhi and Agra at a speed of 160 km/h (99 mph). The locomotive has regenerative braking , flexible gear coupling, wheel-mounted disc brakes , and

200-573: A push-pull configuration for Tejas Express services. The two locomotives have a power output of 6,000 horsepower (4,500 kW) and will have a maximum speed of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph). Two modified WAP-5 locomotives (35027 and 35028) are used to haul the Amrit Bharat Express in a similar push-pull configuration. A 24 coach (1430t) passenger rake can be accelerated to 110 km/h in 312.1 seconds (over 6 Km), to 120 km/h in 402sec (6.9km); and to 130km/h in 556 sec (14.2km) by

300-434: A 10.6% share of world electricity production as of 2013, is the second largest low-carbon power source. Nuclear power, in 2010, also provided two thirds of the twenty seven nation European Union 's low-carbon energy, with some EU nations sourcing a large fraction of their electricity from nuclear power; for example France derives 79% of its electricity from nuclear . As of 2020 nuclear power provided 47% low-carbon power in

400-421: A WAP-5 locomotive (no. 30136) with an enhanced power output of 4,500 kilowatts (6,000 hp) was released which was later adopted as a standard based on successful trials. Some locomotives of this class are equipped with "Head On Generation" (HOG) in which electric power from the locomotive's pantograph is transferred to the coaches instead of " End Of Generation " where a power car equipped with diesel generator

500-619: A WAP5. Specifications are as follows: Type : UW-2423-2810 SG 3000G X H24 GTO thyristors (D 921S45 T diodes), 14 thyristors per unit (two units). Line converter rated at 2 x 1269 V @ 50 Hz, with DC link voltage of 2800 V. Drive converter rated at 2180 V phase to phase, 953 A output current *per phase, motor frequency from 0 to 160.3 Hz. 2105 kW, individual axle control configuration, MITRAC software, water cooled. Newer locomotives have IGBT based propulsion system. Bogie center distance 10,200 mm (33.5 ft); bogie wheelbase 2,800 mm (9.2 ft) WAP-5 (5440 HP) has

600-452: A combustion-powered locomotive (i.e., steam- or diesel-powered ) could cause a safety issue due to the risks of fire, explosion or fumes in a confined space. Battery locomotives are preferred for mine railways where gas could be ignited by trolley-powered units arcing at the collection shoes, or where electrical resistance could develop in the supply or return circuits, especially at rail joints, and allow dangerous current leakage into

700-521: A comparable amount of carbon dioxide emissions as renewable technologies in total life cycle emissions, but consume non-renewable, but sustainable materials ( uranium ). The term low-carbon power can also include power that continues to utilize the world's natural resources, such as natural gas and coal, but only when they employ techniques that reduce carbon dioxide emissions from these sources when burning them for fuel, such as the, as of 2012, pilot plants performing Carbon capture and storage . Because

800-429: A ground and polished journal that is integral to the axle. The other side of the housing has a tongue-shaped protuberance that engages a matching slot in the truck (bogie) bolster, its purpose being to act as a torque reaction device, as well as support. Power transfer from the motor to the axle is effected by spur gearing , in which a pinion on the motor shaft engages a bull gear on the axle. Both gears are enclosed in

900-815: A higher power output than diesel locomotives and they can produce even higher short-term surge power for fast acceleration. Electric locomotives are ideal for commuter rail service with frequent stops. Electric locomotives are used on freight routes with consistently high traffic volumes, or in areas with advanced rail networks. Power plants, even if they burn fossil fuels , are far cleaner than mobile sources such as locomotive engines. The power can also come from low-carbon or renewable sources , including geothermal power , hydroelectric power , biomass , solar power , nuclear power and wind turbines . Electric locomotives usually cost 20% less than diesel locomotives, their maintenance costs are 25–35% lower, and cost up to 50% less to run. The chief disadvantage of electrification

1000-558: A large area of sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into electric current using the photoelectric effect . Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. The 354 MW SEGS CSP installation is the largest solar power plant in the world, located in the Mojave Desert of California. Other large CSP plants include the Solnova Solar Power Station (150 MW) and

1100-423: A large demand to the electrical grid. Domestic and industrial heat and hot water have largely been supplied by burning fossil fuels such as fuel oil or natural gas at the consumers' premises. Some countries have begun heat pump rebates to encourage switching to electricity, potentially adding a large demand to the grid. Coal-fired power plants are losing market share compared to low carbon power, and any built in

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1200-415: A liquid-tight housing containing lubricating oil. The type of service in which the locomotive is used dictates the gear ratio employed. Numerically high ratios are commonly found on freight units, whereas numerically low ratios are typical of passenger engines. The Whyte notation system for classifying steam locomotives is not adequate for describing the variety of electric locomotive arrangements, though

1300-409: A modern locomotive can be up to 50% of the cost of the vehicle. Electric traction allows the use of regenerative braking, in which the motors are used as brakes and become generators that transform the motion of the train into electrical power that is then fed back into the lines. This system is particularly advantageous in mountainous operations, as descending locomotives can produce a large portion of

1400-499: A new type 3-phase asynchronous electric drive motors and generators for electric locomotives at the Fives-Lille Company. Kandó's early 1894 designs were first applied in a short three-phase AC tramway in Évian-les-Bains (France), which was constructed between 1896 and 1898. In 1918, Kandó invented and developed the rotary phase converter , enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via

1500-431: A potential for speed enhancement to 200 km/h (120 mph). Braking systems include 160 kN (36,000 lbf) regenerative brakes, disc brakes, automatic train air brakes and a charged spring parking brake . Last updated:- November 2024 In October 2015, a WAP-5A locomotive (no. 30086) was rolled-out with a gear ratio of 59:35:19 capable of speeds upto 200 km/h (120 mph) for trial runs. In March 2018,

1600-469: A share of about 10% of new installations. Wind power is one of the lowest-cost electricity sources per unit of energy produced. In many locations, new onshore wind farms are cheaper than new coal or gas plants . Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus

1700-479: A single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high voltage national networks. Italian railways were the first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a mainline rather than just a short stretch. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz Works . The electrical system

1800-410: A smaller rail parallel to the main track, above ground level. There are multiple pickups on both sides of the locomotive in order to accommodate the breaks in the third rail required by trackwork. This system is preferred in subways because of the close clearances it affords. During the initial development of railroad electrical propulsion, a number of drive systems were devised to couple the output of

1900-841: A speed of 13 km/h. During four months, the train carried 90,000 passengers on a 300-meter-long (984 feet) circular track. The electricity (150 V DC) was supplied through a third insulated rail between the tracks. A contact roller was used to collect the electricity. The world's first electric tram line opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin, Germany, in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens (see Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway and Berlin Straßenbahn ). Volk's Electric Railway opened in 1883 in Brighton. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened near Vienna in Austria. It

2000-459: Is electricity produced with substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions over the entire lifecycle than power generation using fossil fuels . The energy transition to low-carbon power is one of the most important actions required to limit climate change . Low carbon power generation sources include wind power , solar power , nuclear power and most hydropower . The term largely excludes conventional fossil fuel plant sources, and

2100-654: Is common in Canada and the U.S.) but not for passenger or mixed passenger/freight traffic like on many European railway lines, especially where heavy freight trains must be run at comparatively high speeds (80 km/h or more). These factors led to high degrees of electrification in most European countries. In some countries, like Switzerland, even electric shunters are common and many private sidings are served by electric locomotives. During World War II , when materials to build new electric locomotives were not available, Swiss Federal Railways installed electric heating elements in

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2200-592: Is considered a sustainable , renewable energy source, and has a much smaller impact on the environment compared to burning fossil fuels . Wind power is variable , so it needs energy storage or other dispatchable generation energy sources to attain a reliable supply of electricity. Land-based (onshore) wind farms have a greater visual impact on the landscape than most other power stations per energy produced. Wind farms sited offshore have less visual impact and have higher capacity factors , although they are generally more expensive. Offshore wind power currently has

2300-549: Is in operation at only five power plants worldwide. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated in its first working group report that "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations, contribute to climate change . As a percentage of all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions , carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) accounts for 72 percent (see Greenhouse gas ), and has increased in concentration in

2400-418: Is no easy way to do the voltage/current transformation for DC so efficiently as achieved by AC transformers. AC traction still occasionally uses dual overhead wires instead of single-phase lines. The resulting three-phase current drives induction motors , which do not have sensitive commutators and permit easy realisation of a regenerative brake . Speed is controlled by changing the number of pole pairs in

2500-463: Is now employed largely unmodified by ÖBB to haul their Railjet which is however limited to a top speed of 230 km/h due to economic and infrastructure concerns. An electric locomotive can be supplied with power from The distinguishing design features of electric locomotives are: The most fundamental difference lies in the choice of AC or DC. The earliest systems used DC, as AC was not well understood and insulation material for high voltage lines

2600-458: Is only used to describe a particular subset of operating fossil fuel power systems, specifically, those that are successfully coupled with a flue gas carbon capture and storage (CCS) system. Globally almost 40% of electricity generation came from low-carbon sources in 2020: about 10% being nuclear power, almost 10% wind and solar, and around 20% hydropower and other renewables. Very little low-carbon power comes from fossil sources, mostly due to

2700-414: Is powered by onboard batteries; a kind of battery electric vehicle . Such locomotives are used where a diesel or conventional electric locomotive would be unsuitable. An example is maintenance trains on electrified lines when the electricity supply is turned off. Another use for battery locomotives is in industrial facilities (e.g. explosives factories, oil, and gas refineries or chemical factories) where

2800-453: Is provided at either end of the train rake to supply power. The first WAP-5 locomotive (no. 30140) with HOG was rolled by CLW in June 2018. In October 2020, two WAP-5 locomotives (no. 35012 and 35013) were given an asymmetric body design with an aerodynamic profile for one cab and a blunt profile for another cab at the opposite end, which is intended to be semi-permanently coupled with a train in

2900-452: Is seen in non- OECD Asian countries, especially China and India, where economic growth drives increased energy use. By implementing low-carbon power options, world electricity demand could continue to grow while maintaining stable carbon emission levels. In the transportation sector there are moves away from fossil fuels and towards electric vehicles, such as mass transit and the electric car . These trends are small, but may eventually add

3000-483: Is the high cost for infrastructure: overhead lines or third rail, substations, and control systems. The impact of this varies depending on local laws and regulations. For example, public policy in the U.S. interferes with electrification: higher property taxes are imposed on privately owned rail facilities if they are electrified. The EPA regulates exhaust emissions on locomotive and marine engines, similar to regulations on car & freight truck emissions, in order to limit

3100-459: Is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails , windmills and windpumps , but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity generation. Today, wind power is generated almost completely with wind turbines , generally grouped into wind farms and connected to the electrical grid . In 2022, wind supplied over 2,304 TWh of electricity, which

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3200-463: Is used in 24 countries while geothermal heating is in use in 70 countries. Current worldwide installed capacity is 10,715 megawatts (MW), with the largest capacity in the United States (3,086 MW), Philippines , and Indonesia . Estimates of the electricity generating potential of geothermal energy vary from 35 to 2000 GW. Geothermal power is considered to be sustainable because

3300-456: Is widespread in Europe, with electric multiple units commonly used for passenger trains. Due to higher density schedules, operating costs are more dominant with respect to the infrastructure costs than in the U.S. and electric locomotives have much lower operating costs than diesel. In addition, governments were motivated to electrify their railway networks due to coal shortages experienced during

3400-688: The Andasol solar power station (150 MW), both in Spain. The over 200 MW Agua Caliente Solar Project in the United States, and the 214 MW Charanka Solar Park in India, are the world's largest photovoltaic plants . Solar power's share of worldwide electricity usage at the end of 2014 was 1%. Geothermal electricity is electricity generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power plants, flash steam power plants and binary cycle power plants. Geothermal electricity generation

3500-514: The Ganz works and Societa Italiana Westinghouse , was an electro-mechanical converter , allowing the use of three-phase motors from single-phase AC, eliminating the need for two overhead wires. In 1923, the first phase-converter locomotive in Hungary was constructed on the basis of Kandó's designs and serial production began soon after. The first installation, at 16 kV 50 Hz, was in 1932 on

3600-617: The Pennsylvania Railroad applied classes to its electric locomotives as if they were steam. For example, the PRR GG1 class indicates that it is arranged like two 4-6-0 class G locomotives coupled back-to-back. UIC classification system was typically used for electric locomotives, as it could handle the complex arrangements of powered and unpowered axles and could distinguish between coupled and uncoupled drive systems. A battery–electric locomotive (or battery locomotive)

3700-659: The Pennsylvania Railroad , which had introduced electric locomotives because of the NYC regulation, electrified its entire territory east of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad (the Milwaukee Road ), the last transcontinental line to be built, electrified its lines across the Rocky Mountains and to the Pacific Ocean starting in 1915. A few East Coastlines, notably

3800-632: The Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors , with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a wooden cylinder on each axle, and simple commutators . It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) for a distance of one and a half miles (2.4 kilometres). It was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of

3900-533: The SJ Class Dm 3 locomotives on Swedish Railways produced a record 7,200 kW. Locomotives capable of commercial passenger service at 200 km/h appeared in Germany and France in the same period. Further improvements resulted from the introduction of electronic control systems, which permitted the use of increasingly lighter and more powerful motors that could be fitted inside the bogies (standardizing from

4000-479: The United Kingdom (750 V and 1,500 V); Netherlands , Japan , Ireland (1,500 V); Slovenia , Belgium , Italy , Poland , Russia , Spain (3,000 V) and Washington, D.C. (750 V). Electrical circuits require two connections (or for three phase AC , three connections). From the beginning, the track was used for one side of the circuit. Unlike model railroads the track normally supplies only one side,

4100-531: The Virginian Railway and the Norfolk and Western Railway , electrified short sections of their mountain crossings. However, by this point electrification in the United States was more associated with dense urban traffic and the use of electric locomotives declined in the face of dieselization. Diesel shared some of the electric locomotive's advantages over steam and the cost of building and maintaining

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4200-527: The flue gas of power plants or other industry, transporting it to an appropriate location where it can be buried securely in an underground reservoir. Between 1972 and 2017, plans were made to add CCS to enough coal and gas power plants to sequester 171 million tonnes of CO 2 per year, but by 2021 over 98% of these plans had failed. Cost, the absence of measures to address long-term liability for stored CO 2 , and limited social acceptability have all contributed to project cancellations. As of 2024, CCS

4300-404: The traction motors to the wheels. Early locomotives often used jackshaft drives. In this arrangement, the traction motor is mounted within the body of the locomotive and drives the jackshaft through a set of gears. This system was employed because the first traction motors were too large and heavy to mount directly on the axles. Due to the number of mechanical parts involved, frequent maintenance

4400-510: The 1950s as a low-carbon source of baseload electricity. Nuclear power plants in over 30 countries generate about 10% of global electricity. As of 2019, nuclear generated over a quarter of all low-carbon energy , making it the second largest source after hydropower. Nuclear power's lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions—including the mining and processing of uranium —are similar to the emissions from renewable energy sources. Nuclear power uses little land per unit of energy produced, compared to

4500-532: The 1990s onwards on asynchronous three-phase motors, fed through GTO-inverters). In the 1980s, the development of very high-speed service brought further electrification. The Japanese Shinkansen and the French TGV were the first systems for which devoted high-speed lines were built from scratch. Similar programs were undertaken in Italy , Germany and Spain ; in the United States the only new mainline service

4600-492: The 56 km section of the Hungarian State Railways between Budapest and Komárom . This proved successful and the electrification was extended to Hegyeshalom in 1934. In Europe, electrification projects initially focused on mountainous regions for several reasons: coal supplies were difficult, hydroelectric power was readily available, and electric locomotives gave more traction on steeper lines. This

4700-541: The B&;O to the new line to New York through a series of tunnels around the edges of Baltimore's downtown. Parallel tracks on the Pennsylvania Railroad had shown that coal smoke from steam locomotives would be a major operating issue and a public nuisance. Three Bo+Bo units were initially used, the EL-1 Model. At the south end of the electrified section; they coupled onto the locomotive and train and pulled it through

4800-691: The Buchli drive was mainly used by the French SNCF and Swiss Federal Railways . The quill drive was also developed about this time and mounted the traction motor above or to the side of the axle and coupled to the axle through a reduction gear and a hollow shaft – the quill – flexibly connected to the driving axle. The Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 locomotive used a quill drive. Again, as traction motors continued to shrink in size and weight, quill drives gradually fell out of favor in low-speed freight locomotives. In high-speed passenger locomotives used in Europe,

4900-475: The EU with countries largely based on nuclear power routinely achieving carbon intensity of 30-60 gCO2eq/kWh. In 2021 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) described nuclear power as important tool to mitigate climate change that has prevented 74 Gt of CO 2 emissions over the last half century, providing 20% of energy in Europe and 43% of low-carbon energy. Nuclear power has been used since

5000-509: The First and Second World Wars. Diesel locomotives have less power compared to electric locomotives for the same weight and dimensions. For instance, the 2,200 kW of a modern British Rail Class 66 diesel locomotive was matched in 1927 by the electric SBB-CFF-FFS Ae 4/7 (2,300 kW), which is lighter. However, for low speeds, the tractive effort is more important than power. Diesel engines can be competitive for slow freight traffic (as it

5100-481: The London Underground. One setback for third rail systems is that level crossings become more complex, usually requiring a gap section. The original Baltimore and Ohio Railroad electrification used a sliding pickup (a contact shoe or simply the "shoe") in an overhead channel, a system quickly found to be unsatisfactory. It was replaced by a third rail , in which a pickup rides underneath or on top of

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5200-430: The amount of carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons, nitric oxides, and soot output from these mobile power sources. Because railroad infrastructure is privately owned in the U.S., railroads are unwilling to make the necessary investments for electrification. In Europe and elsewhere, railway networks are considered part of the national transport infrastructure, just like roads, highways and waterways, so are often financed by

5300-505: The amount of waste that requires geological disposal , but have not yet been deployed on a large-scale commercial basis. Nuclear power based on thorium (rather than uranium) may be able to provide higher energy security for countries that do not have a large supply of uranium. Small modular reactors may have several advantages over current large reactors: It should be possible to build them faster and their modularization would allow for cost reductions via learning-by-doing . Wind power

5400-447: The atmosphere from 315 parts per million (ppm) in 1958 to more than 375 ppm in 2005. Emissions from energy make up more than 61.4 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Power generation from traditional coal fuel sources accounts for 18.8 percent of all world greenhouse gas emissions, nearly double that emitted by road transportation. Estimates state that by 2020 the world will be producing around twice as much carbon emissions as it

5500-457: The boilers of some steam shunters , fed from the overhead supply, to deal with the shortage of imported coal. Recent political developments in many European countries to enhance public transit have led to another boost for electric traction. In addition, gaps in the unelectrified track are closed to avoid replacing electric locomotives by diesel for these sections. The necessary modernization and electrification of these lines are possible, due to

5600-581: The cost of CCS technology. During the late 20th and early 21st century significant findings regarding global warming highlighted the need to curb carbon emissions. From this, the idea for low-carbon power was born. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 1988, set

5700-651: The cost of reducing emissions in the electricity sector appears to be lower than in other sectors such as transportation, the electricity sector may deliver the largest proportional carbon reductions under an economically efficient climate policy. Technologies to produce electric power with low-carbon emissions are in use at various scales. Together, they accounted for almost 40% of global electricity in 2020, with wind and solar almost 10%. The 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report identifies nuclear, wind, solar and hydroelectricity in suitable locations as technologies that can provide electricity with less than 5% of

5800-568: The early development of electric locomotion was driven by the increasing use of tunnels, particularly in urban areas. Smoke from steam locomotives was noxious and municipalities were increasingly inclined to prohibit their use within their limits. The first electrically worked underground line was the City and South London Railway , prompted by a clause in its enabling act prohibiting the use of steam power. It opened in 1890, using electric locomotives built by Mather and Platt . Electricity quickly became

5900-474: The electrification of many European main lines. European electric locomotive technology had improved steadily from the 1920s onwards. By comparison, the Milwaukee Road class EP-2 (1918) weighed 240 t, with a power of 3,330 kW and a maximum speed of 112 km/h; in 1935, German E 18 had a power of 2,800 kW, but weighed only 108 tons and had a maximum speed of 150 km/h. On 29 March 1955, French locomotive CC 7107 reached 331 km/h. In 1960

6000-593: The expansion phase. Climate change mitigation pathways consistent with ambitious goals typically see an increase in power supply from nuclear. There is controversy over whether nuclear power is sustainable, in part due to concerns around nuclear waste , nuclear weapon proliferation , and accidents . Radioactive nuclear waste must be managed for thousands of years and nuclear power plants create fissile material that can be used for weapons. For each unit of energy produced, nuclear energy has caused far fewer accidental and pollution-related deaths than fossil fuels, and

6100-508: The expo site at Frankfurt am Main West, a distance of 280 km. Using experience he had gained while working for Jean Heilmann on steam–electric locomotive designs, Brown observed that three-phase motors had a higher power-to-weight ratio than DC motors and, because of the absence of a commutator , were simpler to manufacture and maintain. However, they were much larger than the DC motors of

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6200-530: The financing of the railway infrastructure by the state. British electric multiple units were first introduced in the 1890s, and current versions provide public transit and there are also a number of electric locomotive classes, such as: Class 76 , Class 86 , Class 87 , Class 90 , Class 91 and Class 92 . Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union have a mix of 3,000 V DC and 25 kV AC for historical reasons. Low-carbon power Low-carbon electricity or low-carbon power

6300-756: The first main-line three-phase locomotives to the 40 km Burgdorf–Thun railway (highest point 770 metres), Switzerland. The first implementation of industrial frequency single-phase AC supply for locomotives came from Oerlikon in 1901, using the designs of Hans Behn-Eschenburg and Emil Huber-Stockar ; installation on the Seebach-Wettingen line of the Swiss Federal Railways was completed in 1904. The 15 kV, 50 Hz 345 kW (460 hp), 48 tonne locomotives used transformers and rotary converters to power DC traction motors. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed

6400-430: The following capacity for ICF coaches in tonnes: Average weight of an ICF coach is 55 tonnes. Electric locomotives Electric locomotives benefit from the high efficiency of electric motors, often above 90% (not including the inefficiency of generating the electricity). Additional efficiency can be gained from regenerative braking , which allows kinetic energy to be recovered during braking to put power back on

6500-399: The following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use. It was destroyed by railway workers, who saw it as a threat to their job security. The first electric passenger train was presented by Werner von Siemens at Berlin in 1879. The locomotive was driven by a 2.2 kW, series-wound motor, and the train, consisting of the locomotive and three cars, reached

6600-1013: The ground. The first electric locomotive built in 1837 was a battery locomotive. It was built by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen in Scotland , and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Another early example was at the Kennecott Copper Mine , McCarthy, Alaska , wherein 1917 the underground haulage ways were widened to enable working by two battery locomotives of 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 short tons (4.0 long tons; 4.1 t). In 1928, Kennecott Copper ordered four 700-series electric locomotives with onboard batteries. These locomotives weighed 85 short tons (76 long tons; 77 t) and operated on 750 volts overhead trolley wire with considerable further range whilst running on batteries. The locomotives provided several decades of service using nickel–iron battery (Edison) technology. The batteries were replaced with lead-acid batteries , and

6700-851: The heat extraction is small compared to the Earth's heat content. The emission intensity of existing geothermal electric plants is on average 122 kg of CO 2 per megawatt-hour (MW·h) of electricity, a small fraction of that of conventional fossil fuel plants. Tidal power is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power. The first large-scale tidal power plant (the Rance Tidal Power Station ) started operation in 1966. Although not yet widely used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) captures carbon dioxide from

6800-531: The historic fatality rate of nuclear is comparable to renewable sources. Public opposition to nuclear energy often makes nuclear plants politically difficult to implement. Reducing the time and the cost of building new nuclear plants have been goals for decades but costs remain high and timescales long. Various new forms of nuclear energy are in development, hoping to address the drawbacks of conventional plants. Fast breeder reactors are capable of recycling nuclear waste and therefore can significantly reduce

6900-572: The lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of coal power. Hydroelectric plants have the advantage of being long-lived and many existing plants have operated for more than 100 years. Hydropower is also an extremely flexible technology from the perspective of power grid operation. Large hydropower provides one of the lowest cost options in today's energy market, even compared to fossil fuels and there are no harmful emissions associated with plant operation. However, there are typically low greenhouse gas emissions with reservoirs , and possibly high emissions in

7000-461: The line. Newer electric locomotives use AC motor-inverter drive systems that provide for regenerative braking. Electric locomotives are quiet compared to diesel locomotives since there is no engine and exhaust noise and less mechanical noise. The lack of reciprocating parts means electric locomotives are easier on the track, reducing track maintenance. Power plant capacity is far greater than any individual locomotive uses, so electric locomotives can have

7100-1144: The locomotives were retired shortly afterward. All four locomotives were donated to museums, but one was scrapped. The others can be seen at the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad , Iowa, and at the Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista, California. The Toronto Transit Commission previously operated on the Toronto subway a battery electric locomotive built by Nippon Sharyo in 1968 and retired in 2009. London Underground regularly operates battery–electric locomotives for general maintenance work. As of 2022 , battery locomotives with 7 and 14 MWh energy capacity have been ordered by rail lines and are under development. In 2020, Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company , manufacturers of stored electrical power systems using supercapacitors initially developed for use in trams , announced that they were extending their product line to include locomotives. Electrification

7200-422: The major renewables. Additionally, Nuclear power does not create local air pollution. Although the uranium ore used to fuel nuclear fission plants is a non-renewable resource, enough exists to provide a supply for hundreds to thousands of years. However, uranium resources that can be accessed in an economically feasible manner, at the present state, are limited and uranium production could hardly keep up during

7300-434: The other side(s) of the circuit being provided separately. Railways generally tend to prefer overhead lines , often called " catenaries " after the support system used to hold the wire parallel to the ground. Three collection methods are possible: Of the three, the pantograph method is best suited for high-speed operation. Some locomotives use both overhead and third rail collection (e.g. British Rail Class 92 ). In Europe,

7400-424: The performance of AC locomotives was sufficiently developed to allow all its future installations, regardless of terrain, to be of this standard, with its associated cheaper and more efficient infrastructure. The SNCF decision, ignoring as it did the 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of high-voltage DC already installed on French routes, was influential in the standard selected for other countries in Europe. The 1960s saw

7500-495: The period of electrification of the Italian railways, tests were made as to which type of power to use: in some sections there was a 3,600 V 16 + 2 ⁄ 3  Hz three-phase power supply, in others there was 1,500 V DC, 3 kV DC and 10 kV AC 45 Hz supply. After WW2, 3 kV DC power was chosen for the entire Italian railway system. A later development of Kandó, working with both

7600-426: The political precedence for introduction of low-carbon power technology. see also environmental impact of reservoirs#Greenhouse gases . List of acronyms: There are many options for lowering current levels of carbon emissions. Some options, such as wind power and solar power, produce low quantities of total life cycle carbon emissions, using entirely renewable sources. Other options, such as nuclear power, produce

7700-573: The power required for ascending trains. Most systems have a characteristic voltage and, in the case of AC power, a system frequency. Many locomotives have been equipped to handle multiple voltages and frequencies as systems came to overlap or were upgraded. American FL9 locomotives were equipped to handle power from two different electrical systems and could also operate as diesel–electrics. While today's systems predominantly operate on AC, many DC systems are still in use – e.g., in South Africa and

7800-620: The power supply infrastructure, which discouraged new installations, brought on the elimination of most main-line electrification outside the Northeast. Except for a few captive systems (e.g. the Deseret Power Railroad ), by 2000 electrification was confined to the Northeast Corridor and some commuter service; even there, freight service was handled by diesel. Development continued in Europe, where electrification

7900-544: The power supply of choice for subways, abetted by Sprague's invention of multiple-unit train control in 1897. Surface and elevated rapid transit systems generally used steam until forced to convert by ordinance. The first use of electrification on an American main line was on a four-mile stretch of the Baltimore Belt Line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1895 connecting the main portion of

8000-400: The quill drive is still predominant. Another drive was the " bi-polar " system, in which the motor armature was the axle itself, the frame and field assembly of the motor being attached to the truck (bogie) in a fixed position. The motor had two field poles, which allowed a limited amount of vertical movement of the armature. This system was of limited value since the power output of each motor

8100-420: The recommended geometry and shape of pantographs are defined by standard EN 50367/IEC 60486 Mass transit systems and suburban lines often use a third rail instead of overhead wire. It allows for smaller tunnels and lower clearance under bridges, and has advantages for intensive traffic that it is a very sturdy system, not sensitive to snapping overhead wires. Some systems use four rails, especially some lines in

8200-435: The reservoirs are planned, release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide and methane during construction and flooding of the reservoir, and disruption of aquatic ecosystems and birdlife. There is a strong consensus now that countries should adopt an integrated approach towards managing water resources, which would involve planning hydropower development in co-operation with other water-using sectors. Nuclear power , with

8300-580: The scientific precedence for the introduction of low-carbon power. The IPCC has continued to provide scientific, technical and socio-economic advice to the world community, through its periodic assessment reports and special reports. Internationally, the most prominent early step in the direction of low carbon power was the signing of the Kyoto Protocol , which came into force on 16 February 2005, under which most industrialized countries committed to reduce their carbon emissions. The historical event set

8400-439: The state. Operators of the rolling stock pay fees according to rail use. This makes possible the large investments required for the technically and, in the long-term, also economically advantageous electrification. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen , and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Davidson later built a larger locomotive named Galvani , exhibited at

8500-399: The stator circuit, with acceleration controlled by switching additional resistors in, or out, of the rotor circuit. The two-phase lines are heavy and complicated near switches, where the phases have to cross each other. The system was widely used in northern Italy until 1976 and is still in use on some Swiss rack railways . The simple feasibility of a fail-safe electric brake is an advantage of

8600-442: The system, while speed control and the two-phase lines are problematic. Rectifier locomotives, which used AC power transmission and DC motors, were common, though DC commutators had problems both in starting and at low velocities. Today's advanced electric locomotives use brushless three-phase AC induction motors . These polyphase machines are powered from GTO -, IGCT - or IGBT -based inverters. The cost of electronic devices in

8700-607: The time and could not be mounted in underfloor bogies : they could only be carried within locomotive bodies. In 1896, Oerlikon installed the first commercial example of the system on the Lugano Tramway . Each 30-tonne locomotive had two 110 kW (150 hp) motors run by three-phase 750 V 40 Hz fed from double overhead lines. Three-phase motors run at a constant speed and provide regenerative braking and are thus well suited to steeply graded routes; in 1899 Brown (by then in partnership with Walter Boveri ) supplied

8800-420: The tropics. Hydroelectric power is the world's largest low carbon source of electricity, supplying 15.6% of total electricity in 2019. China is by far the world's largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world, followed by Brazil and Canada . However, there are several significant social and environmental disadvantages of large-scale hydroelectric power systems: dislocation, if people are living where

8900-670: The tunnels. Railroad entrances to New York City required similar tunnels and the smoke problems were more acute there. A collision in the Park Avenue tunnel in 1902 led the New York State legislature to outlaw the use of smoke-generating locomotives south of the Harlem River after 1 July 1908. In response, electric locomotives began operation in 1904 on the New York Central Railroad . In the 1930s,

9000-443: The use of low currents; transmission losses are proportional to the square of the current (e.g. twice the current means four times the loss). Thus, high power can be conducted over long distances on lighter and cheaper wires. Transformers in the locomotives transform this power to a low voltage and high current for the motors. A similar high voltage, low current system could not be employed with direct current locomotives because there

9100-598: Was 7.8% of world electricity. With about 100 GW added during 2021, mostly in China and the United States , global installed wind power capacity exceeded 800 GW. 32 countries generated more than a tenth of their electricity from wind power in 2023 and wind generation has nearly tripled since 2015. To help meet the Paris Agreement goals to limit climate change , analysts say it should expand much faster – by over 1% of electricity generation per year. Wind power

9200-590: Was an extension of electrification over the Northeast Corridor from New Haven, Connecticut , to Boston, Massachusetts , though new electric light rail systems continued to be built. On 2 September 2006, a standard production Siemens electric locomotive of the Eurosprinter type ES64-U4 ( ÖBB Class 1216) achieved 357 km/h (222 mph), the record for a locomotive-hauled train, on the new line between Ingolstadt and Nuremberg. This locomotive

9300-426: Was in 2000. The European Union hopes to sign a law mandating net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the coming year for all 27 countries in the union. World energy consumption is predicted to increase from 123,000  TWh (421  quadrillion   BTU ) in 2003 to 212,000 TWh (722 quadrillion BTU) in 2030. Coal consumption is predicted to nearly double in that same time. The fastest growth

9400-404: Was limited. The EP-2 bi-polar electrics used by the Milwaukee Road compensated for this problem by using a large number of powered axles. Modern freight electric locomotives, like their Diesel–electric counterparts, almost universally use axle-hung traction motors, with one motor for each powered axle. In this arrangement, one side of the motor housing is supported by plain bearings riding on

9500-399: Was necessary. The jackshaft drive was abandoned for all but the smallest units when smaller and lighter motors were developed, Several other systems were devised as the electric locomotive matured. The Buchli drive was a fully spring-loaded system, in which the weight of the driving motors was completely disconnected from the driving wheels. First used in electric locomotives from the 1920s,

9600-498: Was not available. DC locomotives typically run at relatively low voltage (600 to 3,000 volts); the equipment is therefore relatively massive because the currents involved are large in order to transmit sufficient power. Power must be supplied at frequent intervals as the high currents result in large transmission system losses. As AC motors were developed, they became the predominant type, particularly on longer routes. High voltages (tens of thousands of volts) are used because this allows

9700-463: Was particularly applicable in Switzerland, where almost all lines are electrified. An important contribution to the wider adoption of AC traction came from SNCF of France after World War II . The company had assessed the industrial-frequency AC line routed through the steep Höllental Valley , Germany, which was under French administration following the war. After trials, the company decided that

9800-526: Was the first in the world in regular service powered from an overhead line. Five years later, in the U.S. electric trolleys were pioneered in 1888 on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway , using equipment designed by Frank J. Sprague . The first electrified Hungarian railway lines were opened in 1887. Budapest (See: BHÉV ): Ráckeve line (1887), Szentendre line (1888), Gödöllő line (1888), Csepel line (1912). Much of

9900-513: Was three-phase at 3 kV 15 Hz. The voltage was significantly higher than used earlier and it required new designs for electric motors and switching devices. The three-phase two-wire system was used on several railways in Northern Italy and became known as "the Italian system". Kandó was invited in 1905 to undertake the management of Società Italiana Westinghouse and led the development of several Italian electric locomotives. During

10000-546: Was widespread. 1,500 V DC is still used on some lines near France and 25 kV 50 Hz is used by high-speed trains. The first practical AC electric locomotive was designed by Charles Brown , then working for Oerlikon , Zürich. In 1891, Brown had demonstrated long-distance power transmission for the International Electrotechnical Exhibition , using three-phase AC , between a hydro–electric plant at Lauffen am Neckar and

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