List of current systems for electric rail traction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This a list of the voltages, etc. that are used or have been used for tramway and railway electrification systems.

Note the voltages are nominal, and vary up and down depending on load and distance from the substation.

Key:

Volts: voltage
Hz: DC=direct current, or frequency in hertz if alternating current; single-phase except where marked three-phase
Conductors:
- overhead lines or
- Electrified "conductor" rails, usually a third rail to one side of the running rails
  - Conductor rails can be
    - top contact - oldest - least safe - affected by ice, snow and leaves
    - side contact - newer - safer - much less affected by ice, snow and leaves
    - bottom contact - newer - safer - much less affected by ice, snow and leaves

Volts	Hz	Conductors
150-440	DC	third rail	Post Office Railway, London, England (disused since 2003). Train speed is controlled by the voltage supplied to the local section of the central conductor rail.
160	DC	third rail	Volk's Electric Railway - Brighton, England
180	DC	→	Siemens streetcar Berlin-Lichterfelde 1881-1891, current fed through the running rails!
500	DC		many tram systems
525	DC	overhead	Bergbahn Lauterbrunnen-Mürren
550	DC	overhead	Snaefell Mountain Railway, Isle of Man
600	DC	overhead	very common for older tram systems worldwide; still used in Boston, Melbourne, Toronto, Helsinki and Tallinn, Slovakia (Trencianske Teplice narrow gauge line)
		third rail	New York City Subway system was used for trams in central London - third rail accessed via a slot between the tracks Metro-North Railroad (Hudson & Harlem lines, southern part of New Haven line; bottom-contact), the USA Southern Railway (some areas up to 1939) Subways of Glasgow and Toronto MBTA (Boston) Red Line and Orange Line subways, as well as part of the Blue Line subway. Chicago Transit Authority - elevated and subway lines, top-contact
			Most older US subways, PATH
630	DC	four-rail	London Underground
660	DC	third-rail	Southern Railway (original standard, mostly upgraded to 750V)
690	DC	third-rail with fourth rail bonded to running rail	Euston to Watford DC Line (approximate compromise voltage to enable London Underground trains to operate between Kilburn High Road and Harrow & Wealdstone). Similar bonding arrangements are used on the North London Line between Richmond and Gunnersbury.
725	50 Hz three-phase	overhead two wire	Gornergratbahn
750	DC	overhead	most modern tram systems Albtalbahn, railway of the Upper Rhine, Rhein-Haardtbahn local lines of Stern & Hafferl in Austria Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota Metropolitan Transit light rail, Sydney Light Rail Denver, Colorado (USA) Light Rail part of the Denver Regional Transpotation District [RTD] Salt Lake City UTA TRAX Light Rail, Eskişehir Tramway System in Türkiye
		third rail	Undergrounds and metros in Russia, Prague, Berlin, Munich,Merseyrail, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Vienna, Lisbon, Budapest, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Washington, DC, Paris Métro (some guide rail), Montreal (guide bars) Amtrak Northeast Corridor within the Hudson and East River Tunnels in New York City Long Island Rail Road (USA), San Juan Metro (Puerto Rico, USA) Southern Railway (large areas including those upgraded from 660V - UK) SMRT (Singapore)
		bottom contact third rail	London's Docklands Light Railway, Helsinki, Kolkata (Calcutta), India - Third rail top collection
800	DC	third rail	Berlin S-Bahn
825	AC	third rail	Moscow Metro Pyongyang Metro
850	DC		Local railway Vienna
850	DC	third rail	Southern Railway (original route of Eurostar, pre-CTRL, upgraded from 750V)
860	DC		Switzerland (Mobilization)
900	DC		Switzerland (GFM)
1000	DC		Switzerland (SZU) RhB St Moritz - Tirano
1000	DC	third rail	Bay Area Rapid Transit, USA
1125	50 Hz three-phase	overhead two wire	Jungfraubahn
1200	DC	overhead	to 1985 KBE, Cuba (FdeC), Spain (Sóller Railway) 900 mm gauge mining railways in the Lusatian brown coal district, Estonia (Elektriraudtee) 1924-1941 and 1946-1958
		overhead third rail	Barcelona Metro
		third rail	Hamburg S-Bahn Manchester to Bury line - obsolete
1350	DC		FART (Domodossola-Locarno)
1500	DC	overhead	The Netherlands, France, Slovenia, Czech Republic (two local lines only near to Ceske Budejovice), Copenhagen S-Trains, India (Mumbai), DART (Dublin) Ireland, Japan, Switzerland (BOB, SPB, WAB), Spain (Catalan Railways, RENFE, Euskotren, FEVE), New Zealand (Wellington, and formerly Christchurch-Lyttelton, Arthur's Pass-Otira), Portugal (Cascais Line) Chicago: Metra Electric District Service (former Illinois Central Suburban Service) Great Eastern line from Liverpool Street London to Shenfield, 1949 to mid 1950s (converted to 6.25 kV) Manchester - Sheffield - Wath (via the Woodhead Tunnel) from 1954 to 1981 Tyne and Wear Metro Hong Kong: MTR Australia: CityRail in Sydney, New South Wales and the Melbourne Suburban Network in Victoria SBS Transit (North East Line) in Singapore, Bursa LRT SYSTEM in Türkiye, Slovakia: High-Tatras electric railway
1500	DC	third rail	Guangzhou Metro (Line 3)
2400	DC	overhead wire	Work line of the Lausitzer brown coal AG
3000	DC	overhead wire	Rural lines in Poland, Belgium, India (Kolkata) converted to 25 KV AC, Italy (except Sardinia, changing to 25 kV AC in High Speed lines), former Soviet Union, Brazil, Chile, North Korea, Slovakia (northern, eastern lines, and the broad gauge line between Kosice and the UA border), Spain (changing to 25 kV AC), South Africa, Czech Republic (northern lines), Croatia (Rijeka-Moravice and Rijeka-Šapjane lines), Slovenia
3500	DC	overhead wire	Manchester - Bury (- Holcombe Brook) England. In 1918 converted to third rail (see above)
3600	16 2/3 Hz three-phase	overhead two wire	from 1912 to 1976 in upper Italy
6000	DC		attempts in Russia
6250	50 Hz		Factory railway of Rheinbraun AG Great Eastern suburban lines from Liverpool Street London, 1950s to about 1980 (converted to 25 kV)
6300	25 Hz		Mariazeller Bahn
10,000	25 Hz	overhead wire	'Hofpleinlijn' Local railway The Hague - Rotterdam, in 1926 converted to 1500 DC.
11,000	16 2/3 Hz		Rhaetian Railway, Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn (former Furka-Oberalp-Bahn and BVZ Zermatt-Bahn)
11,000	25 Hz		Amtrak Northeast (NEC) and Keystone corridors (Washington, DC and Harrisburg, PA to New York City), SEPTA, New Jersey Transit, USA
12,500	60 Hz		Amtrak NEC and Metro-North Railroad (Manhattan, New York to New Haven), USA
15,000	variable frequency up to 50 Hz three-phase	overhead three wire	trial runs between Zossen and Marienfelde, 1901 to 1904
15,000	16 2/3 Hz		since 1912 standard system in Austria, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland
20,000	50 Hz		Höllentalbahn from 1933 to 1960 Japan(East area)
20,000	60 Hz		Japan(West area)
25,000	50 Hz		Great Britain, Slovakia (south-western lines only), former Soviet Union, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Turkey, Sardinia, Denmark, Australia (Queensland and Western Australia), China, Czech Republic (southern lines only), India, Iran, Italy (new installations), Japan (Tōhoku-Jōetsu-Nagano Shinkansen), Macedonia, Malaysia (KTM Komuter Service), Montenegro, South Korea, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Croatia, Bosnia, Spain (new installations), Finland, South Africa, New Zealand, proposed Botswana to Namibia line, Congo, Zimbabwe, Rübelandbahn Harz (Germany)
25,000	60 Hz		Amtrak NEC (New Haven to Boston), New Jersey Transit (newer lines), USA, Japan (Tōkaidō-Sanyō Shinkansen), South Korea, Montreal (Deux-Montagnes only)
50,000	50 Hz		Pit removal line South Africa
50,000	60 Hz		Black Mesa and Lake Powell: coal removal line from mine near Kayenta, AZ to Page, AZ