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Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at 25 kilovolts (kV) are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail . It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60   Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The development of 25   kV AC electrification is closely connected with that of successfully using utility frequency.

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44-678: Queensland Rail ( QR ) is a railway operator in Queensland , Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government , and operates both suburban and interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well as long-distance passenger train services connecting Brisbane to regional Queensland. QR also owns and maintains rolling stock, in addition to approximately 6,600 kilometres (4,101 mi) of track and related infrastructure. Queensland Railways

88-440: A variable voltage, variable frequency inverter using IGBTs with pulse-width modulation ) to run the motors. The system works in reverse for regenerative braking . The choice of 25 kV was related to the efficiency of power transmission as a function of voltage and cost, not based on a neat and tidy ratio of the supply voltage. For a given power level, a higher voltage allows for a lower current and usually better efficiency at

132-783: A Board of three Commissioners was appointed to reduce political influence. This was reduced back to a single Commissioner in September 1895. Note: from 1 July 1991 the position of Commissioner for Railways ceased to exist, replaced by a Chief Executive Officer, reporting to a board of Directors. QR operates urban and interurban rail services throughout South East Queensland as part of the Translink network. Rail services operate on twelve lines, Beenleigh , Caboolture , Cleveland , Doomben , Exhibition , Ferny Grove , Gold Coast , Ipswich-Rosewood , Redcliffe Peninsula , Shorncliffe , Springfield and Sunshine Coast . QR operate these with

176-511: A Queensland Rail group. Under the revised arrangements Queensland Rail Limited retained assets and liabilities and staff were transferred to the QRTA. As a result of transferring the staff to the QRTA, the government moved those employees from the federal industrial relations system to the state-based industrial relations system, giving the state more control over industrial arrangements. In November 2013, five labour unions commenced legal proceedings in

220-525: A contract from Duralie Colliery to Stratford Mine. Another coal contract was won in late 2003 for the haulage of coal from Newstan Colliery, Fassifern to Vales Point Power Station . In 2004, Interail began running Brisbane to Melbourne and Sydney to Melbourne intermodal services. In June 2005, Queensland Rail acquired the CRT Group . In June 2006, the Western Australian business of

264-534: A utility frequency system dates back to 1931, tests having run since 1922. It was developed by Kálmán Kandó in Hungary, who used 16 kV AC at 50 Hz , asynchronous traction, and an adjustable number of (motor) poles. The first electrified line for testing was Budapest–Dunakeszi–Alag. The first fully electrified line was Budapest–Győr–Hegyeshalom (part of the Budapest–Vienna line). Although Kandó's solution showed

308-599: A way for the future, railway operators outside of Hungary showed a lack of interest in the design. The first railway to use this system was completed in 1936 by the Deutsche Reichsbahn who electrified part of the Höllentalbahn between Freiburg and Neustadt installing a 20   kV   50 Hz AC system. This part of Germany was in the French zone of occupation after 1945. As a result of examining

352-479: Is corrected by connecting each feeder station to a different combination of phases. To avoid the train pantograph bridging together two feeder stations which may be out-of-phase with each other, neutral sections are provided at feeder stations and track sectioning cabins. SVCs are used for load balancing and voltage control. In some cases dedicated single-phase AC power lines were built to substations with single phase AC transformers. Such lines were built to supply

396-427: Is doubled to 50 kV to obtain greater power and increase the distance between substations. Such lines are usually isolated from other lines to avoid complications from interrunning. Examples are: The 2 × 25   kV autotransformer system is a split-phase electric power system which supplies 25   kV power to the trains, but transmits power at 50   kV to reduce energy losses. It should not be confused with

440-607: Is ideal for railways that cover long distances or carry heavy traffic. After some experimentation before World War II in Hungary and in the Black Forest in Germany , it came into widespread use in the 1950s. One of the reasons it was not introduced earlier was the lack of suitable small and lightweight control and rectification equipment before the development of solid-state rectifiers and related technology. Another reason

484-400: Is then fed, sometimes several kilometres away, to a railway feeder station located beside the tracks. Switchgear at feeder stations, and at track sectioning cabins located halfway between feeder stations, provides switching to feed the overhead line from adjacent feeder stations if one feeder station loses grid supply. Since only two phases of the high-voltage supply are used, phase imbalance

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528-829: The Australian Railroad Group was purchased. QR was responsible for all Queensland freight services, and from 2002 operated interstate services under the Australian Railroad Group , Interail and QR National brands. These were all spun out into a separate entity in July 2010, and later privatised as Aurizon . In June 2009, the Queensland Government announced the privatisation of Queensland Rail's freight business. This resulted in Queensland Rail's freight assets being transferred to QR National (now Aurizon ) from 1 July 2010. In April 2013,

572-479: The Electric Multiple Units (EMU) , Suburban Multiple Units (SMU) , Interurban Multiple Units (IMU) and New Generation Rollingstock (NGR) class electric multiple units . Queensland Rail operate five long-distance passenger rail services, under the brand name Queensland Rail Traveltrain: Connecting road coach services are operated. Annual patronage all travel and tourism servies in 2022-23

616-711: The High Court of Australia alleging that the QRTA was subject to the federal industrial jurisdiction rather than the state system. In April 2015, the court ruled the QRTA was subject to the Fair Work Act 2009 and the federal industrial relations jurisdiction. The Commissioners of the Queensland Railways were: Note: from 29 April 1869 to 15 July 1870, the Secretary for Public Works was appointed Commissioner for Railways. Note: from 29 July 1889

660-568: The Queensland Parliament passed the Queensland Rail Transit Authority Bill 2013 that restructured Queensland Rail. The explanatory notes published for the bill outlined that the existing Queensland Rail Limited entity would remain although no longer be a government-owned corporation and that entity would become a subsidiary of a new Queensland Rail Transit Authority (QRTA), in effect creating

704-520: The 1960s. The main reason why electrification using utility frequency had not been widely adopted before was the lack of reliability of Mercury arc rectifiers that could fit on the train. This in turn related to the requirement to use DC series motors , which required the current to be converted from AC to DC and for that a rectifier is needed. Until the early 1950s, mercury-arc rectifiers were difficult to operate even in ideal conditions and were therefore unsuitable for use in railway locomotives. It

748-438: The 1990s, as they can be controlled by voltage, and have an almost ideal torque vs speed characteristic. In the 1990s, high-speed trains began to use lighter, lower-maintenance three-phase AC induction motors. The N700 Shinkansen uses a three-level converter to convert 25 kV single-phase AC to 1,520 V AC (via transformer) to 3 kV DC (via phase-controlled rectifier with thyristor) to a maximum 2,300 V three-phase AC (via

792-413: The 50   kV system. In this system, the current is mainly carried between the overhead line and a feeder transmission line instead of the rail. The overhead line (3) and feeder (5) are on opposite phases so the voltage between them is 50   kV, while the voltage between the overhead line (3) and the running rails (4) remains at 25   kV. Periodic autotransformers (9) divert the return current from

836-621: The Brisbane network with the coal networks via the North Coast line . The project was to be carried out in four stages: In September 1999, Queensland Rail was rebranded as QR. In March 2002, Queensland Rail purchased Northern Rivers Railroad and rebranded it Interail , fulfilling a long-held ambition of expanding beyond its state borders. In March 2003, Queensland Rail entered the Hunter Valley coal market when Interail commenced

880-613: The French TGV . Railway electrification using 25 kV , 50 Hz AC has become an international standard. There are two main standards that define the voltages of the system: The permissible range of voltages allowed are as stated in the above standards and take into account the number of trains drawing current and their distance from the substation. This system is now part of the European Union's Trans-European railway interoperability standards (1996/48/EC "Interoperability of

924-641: The German system in 1951 the SNCF electrified the line between Aix-les-Bains and La Roche-sur-Foron in southern France, initially at the same 20   kV but converted to 25   kV in 1953. The 25   kV system was then adopted as standard in France, but since substantial amounts of mileage south of Paris had already been electrified at 1.5   kV DC , SNCF also continued some major new DC electrification projects, until dual-voltage locomotives were developed in

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968-714: The Trans-European high-speed rail system" and 2001/16/EC "Interoperability of the Trans-European Conventional rail system"). Systems based on this standard but with some variations have been used. In countries where 60 Hz is the normal grid power frequency, 25 kV at 60 Hz is used for the railway electrification. In Japan, this is used on existing railway lines in Tohoku Region , Hokuriku Region , Hokkaido and Kyushu , of which Hokuriku and Kyushu are at 60   Hz . Some lines in

1012-1123: The United Kingdom, Baldwin Locomotive Works of the United States, as well as Australian manufacturers Clyde Engineering , Evans, Anderson, Phelan & Co , Islington Railway Workshops , Newport Workshops , Phoenix Engine Company, Toowoomba Foundry and Walkers Limited . It also built some in-house at North Ipswich Railway Workshops . In 1936, the company owned 750 locomotives, 67 railcars, 998 coaches, 94 mail cars , 177 brake vans and 18.699 goods wagons. Dieselisation commenced in 1952 with early purchases being imported from GE Transportation and English Electric , before standardising on locally made products from A Goninan & Co , Clyde Engineering, English Electric and Walkers Limited. Electric locomotives were purchased from Clyde Engineering, Walkers Limited and Siemens . Electric multiple units have been purchased from Walkers Limited, Downer Rail and Bombardier Transportation ,

1056-417: The United States have been electrified at 12.5 kV 60 Hz or converted from 11 kV 25 Hz to 12.5 kV 60 Hz . Use of 60 Hz allows direct supply from the 60   Hz utility grid yet does not require the larger wire clearance for 25 kV 60 Hz or require dual-voltage capability for trains also operating on 11 kV 25 Hz lines. Examples are: Early 50   Hz AC railway electrification in the United Kingdom

1100-581: The decision was made, it is understandable. The network evolved as a series of isolated networks. It wasn't until the completion of the North Coast line in December 1924 that all were joined. The exception was the Normanton to Croydon line which always remained isolated. At its peak in 1932, the network totaled 10,500 kilometres (6,524 mi). Changing transport patterns resulted in the closure of many development branch lines from 1948 onwards, but at

1144-706: The fleet and retiring of the remaining EMU and ICE units. 4 Stored 1 Under overhaul QR owned locomotives include 1724, 1725 (stored), 1732, 1734 (overhaul)*, 1738, 1744*, 1746, 1751 (stored)*, 1752 (stored), 1754 (stored), 1764*, 1771* and 1774* *Locomotives in Kuranda Scenic Railway livery 2 Rebuilt 1 Rebuilt 1 Stored 1 Under construction 1 Planned 1263 donated by ARHS(QLD). Stored in Townsville pending transport. SXV from Set 38 stored in bogie shop. 1650 donated by ARHS(QLD). Stored in good condition after partial restoration initiated by

1188-576: The forefront for the repairs and maintenance of the fleet. Notable incidents involving Queensland Rail include: Queensland Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 258249165 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:53:18 GMT 25 kV AC railway electrification This electrification

1232-412: The government's desire for the fastest possible construction timeframe at the least cost. This resulted in the adoption of sharper curves and a lower axle load than was considered possible using the standard gauge, and an assessment at the time put the cost of a narrow gauge line from Ipswich to Toowoomba at 25% of the cost of a standard gauge line. In a colony with a non-indigenous population of 30,000 when

1276-447: The greater cost for high-voltage equipment. It was found that 25 kV was an optimal point, where a higher voltage would still improve efficiency but not by a significant amount in relation to the higher costs incurred by the need for larger insulators and greater clearance from structures. To avoid short circuits , the high voltage must be protected from moisture. Weather events, such as " the wrong type of snow ", have caused failures in

1320-699: The latter of two which are still present in Queensland to this day. With the closure of many rural branch lines in the 1990s there was excess motive power on the QR and it was chosen to standardise by using Clyde based diesel locomotives. Most, if not all of the English Electric locomotives were withdrawn by 2000. In June 2021 QR announced that it had shortlisted 3 applicants ( Alstom , CAF and Downer Rail ) to manufacture 20 (later expanded to 65) new electric multiple units . These will allow for expansion of

1364-494: The line largely followed the alignment surveyed by a private company, the Moreton Bay Tramway Company , which had proposed to build a 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) standard gauge horse-drawn tramway but had been unable to raise funds to do so beyond an initial start on earthworks. The adoption of a narrow gauge was controversial at the time and was largely predicated by

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1408-449: The networks, an ageing diesel-electric locomotive fleet and the increase in diesel fuel costs. By early 1983, a decision had been made to electrify the networks and by early 1984, contracts were already starting to be let for the new locomotives and other works for the project. The decision was made to electrify with the 25 kV AC railway electrification system as used on the Brisbane suburban network. This would allow future connection of

1452-606: The neutral rail, step it up, and send it along the feeder line. This system was initially deployed on France's then new Paris-Lyon High speed rail line in 1981, and has gone on to be used by New Zealand Railways in 1988, Indian Railways , Russian Railways , Italian High Speed Railways, UK High Speed 1 , most of the West Coast Main Line and Crossrail , with some parts of older lines being gradually converted, French lines (LGV lines and some other lines ), most Spanish high-speed rail lines, Amtrak and some of

1496-486: The past. An example of atmospheric causes occurred in December 2009, when four Eurostar trains broke down inside the Channel Tunnel . Electric power for 25 kV AC electrification is usually taken directly from the three-phase transmission system . At the transmission substation, a step-down transformer is connected across two of the three phases of the high-voltage supply and lowers the voltage to 25 kV . This

1540-563: The previous custodian. 1651 donated by ARHS(QLD). Stored pending restoration. This table only includes locomotives owned by Queensland Rail. QR also hires locomotives from Aurizon as required. From its inception, QR's primary workshops were the North Ipswich Railway Workshops . It was replaced by the Redbank Railway Workshops in the 1960s. The Mayne Yard rail precinct is now

1584-562: The same time the main lines were upgraded to provide contemporary services, and from the 1970s an extensive network of new lines was developed, particularly to service export coal mines. Commencing in November 1979, the Brisbane suburban network was electrified . In 1978, discussions were commenced on the possible electrification of the Blackwater and Goonyella coal networks. This was due to an expected increase in coal traffic across

1628-646: Was 690,000. In 2007/08, the subsidy for the Brisbane-Cairns route (NCL) was $ 130 million, or $ 900 per passenger. In 2001/02 it was $ 270 million. Queensland Rail also operate two tourist services: Queensland Rail operated many named trains including: QR sourced steam locomotives from many manufacturers including Armstrong Whitworth , Avonside Engine Company , Beyer, Peacock & Company , Dübs & Co , Kitson & Co , Nasmyth, Wilson & Co , Neilson and Company , North British Locomotive Company , Vulcan Foundry and Yorkshire Engine Company all of

1672-415: Was done using a steam engine beneath a bridge at Crewe . A section of 25 kV overhead line was gradually brought closer to the earthed metalwork of the bridge whilst being subjected to steam from the locomotive's chimney. The distance at which a flashover occurred was measured and this was used as a basis from which new clearances between overhead equipment and structures were derived. Occasionally 25 kV

1716-425: Was planned to use sections at 6.25 kV AC where there was limited clearance under bridges and in tunnels. Rolling stock was dual-voltage with automatic switching between 25 kV and 6.25 kV . The 6.25 kV sections were converted to 25 kV AC as a result of research work that demonstrated that the distance between live and earthed equipment could be reduced from that originally thought to be necessary. The research

1760-404: Was possible to use AC motors (and some railways did, with varying success), but they have had less than ideal characteristics for traction purposes. This is because control of speed is difficult without varying the frequency and reliance on voltage to control speed gives a torque at any given speed that is not ideal. This is why DC series motors were the most common choice for traction purposes until

1804-574: Was seen as a priority. As adequate river transport was already established between the capital Brisbane and the then separate settlement of Ipswich , the railway commenced from the latter locality and the initial section, built over the relatively flat, easy country opened to Bigge's Camp , at the eastern base of the Little Liverpool Range , on 31 July 1865. Called the Main Line , the only significant engineering work on that section

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1848-624: Was the bridge over the Bremer River to North Ipswich. Tunneling excavation through the Little Liverpool Range delayed the opening of the next section to Gatton by 10 months, but the line was opened to Toowoomba in 1867, the ascent of the Main Range being the reason for the adoption of narrow gauge. Built by the Queensland Government to the unusual (for the time) gauge of 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ),

1892-426: Was the first operator in the world to adopt a narrow gauge (in this case 1,067 mm or 3 ft 6 in ) for a main line, and this remains the system-wide gauge in Queensland. The colony of Queensland separated from New South Wales in 1859, and the new government was keen to facilitate development and immigration. Improved transport to the fertile Darling Downs region situated west of Toowoomba

1936-488: Was the increased clearance required under bridges and in tunnels, which would have required major civil engineering in order to provide the increased clearance to live parts. Where existing loading gauges were more generous, this was less of an issue. Railways using older, lower-capacity direct-current systems have introduced or are introducing 25 kV AC instead of 3 kV DC/ 1.5 kV DC for their new high-speed lines. The first successful operational and regular use of

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