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Railway Technology Today 3 (Edited by Kanji Wako)
Railway Electric Power Feeding Systems
Yasu Oura, Yoshifumi Mochinaga, and Hiroki Nagasawa
railways with many long tunnels or on and other countries to minimize rectifi-
Introduction tancerground railways because the energy cation failures. Later advances in silicon
efficiency is higher than steam or diesel commutator technology paved the way for
Electric power technology inthe ralway locomotives and does not involve on- AC feding systems using commercial fe-
industry refers tothe means of supplying board combustion. The high active force quencies in France and elsewhere. The
good-quality elecic power tothe elec- also makes electic operation suitable for 25-KV system is used widely around the
tric motors. I primatily consis of power lines runing through hilly regions. Asa world while Japan elies on a 25 KV sys-
conversion technology at sub-sations, consequence, electric train operation tem for shinkansen and a 204 ac feed-
feeding circuits for DC and AC feeding made remarkable progress. It stated frst ing system for ‘conventional railways. ln
systems and the tucture, materials, mea- with direct-current feeding systems ca- this article, ‘conventional’ means all JNRY
surement, and maintenance ofthe elec- able of driving a DC motor direlly and! JR narrow-gauge lines, all non rallways,
tic overhead lines offering high ratve force andl easy speed and the Akita and Yamagata shinkansen,
Power collection via the overhead line contal which were converted to standard gauge
and pantograph, introduced nearly 100 Although a 3000-V de feding system is from narrow gauge)
yeats ago carly in the history of electric widely used in many other countries, The three-phase, alleating-curentfeed-
railways, remains basically unchanged in some Japanese rallways using DC rely on ing system is used with induction motors
physical appearance. However techno- a 1500-V de system in Europe for railways with steep moun-
logical developments during the past cen- The other alternatng-current feeding sys- tain grades, while a 600-V system, featur
tury have dane much o greatly inctease tem originated in Europe using a single- ing speed control by a power converte,
the current capacity, speed, and safely. phase, commutatortype motor. Special is wsed in Japan for new urban transit sys
Today, the capacity iemore than sulicient low frequencies such as 25 Hz and 16.66 tems
to dive modern super high-speed trains, Ha were introduced in Ausra, Germany,
This article discusses all aspects of elec-
tric power supply systems for railways,
ranging rom the history of electrification Table 1 World Electric Railway Feeding Systems and Electified Distances
of Japanese railways to today’s sophisti- (1996)
cated power supply facilities. N also com- ea! Gottingen)
pares them with heir counterparts in other Siem re = epee Tia Coy
countries. oc 938 than 1,300 V_ gis| 5 | 5,106] 2 | Germany, UK, Switzerland, USA
h sonvioagsov
World Railway gaya | roaae | or | zzae] 9 [rac pn anteres, ara
Electrification Systems pony ence 7276 23 |, Po, tay, Soon, Soames
ios 3.000%)
Table 1 shows various feeding systems
Sgt [50 2 [ues an 200 245 [0 [anes uA
around the world and the electrification | share | =
ae foc wale) ara] 2
distances.
The history of electric rallvays dates back
to 1835 when T. Davenport fabricated a
2057 | 12 | 64876] 96 [ Raa Fae, Roman, nl, Cha
173] 0 [Usk cana, Su Aca
model electric ear powered by voltaic laste-tt wie Kv 1469] 1 [use utr, Nooway
cells anal put it on public exhibition. The hese [Kv 720] 0 [ Sterna
fist pracclelectic cars debuted in 1878 Sh 7 | eemany Seder, Suernd
when a 150-V de, 2.2-KW, bipolar motor ag ata Sutrine Fane
pulled thee passenger cars ata maximum
speed of 12 kmh at the Trades Exhibition [Uniaawn 2 [ravens Free
in Berlin. In 1881, Siemens Halske built Tot 17.207 | 100 10
the world’s first electric railway in NABH) Bathe Houle apanase subway and AGT
iain 2 S20 en (3.000 V dead SDH 25 KY a) but detail not known
Lichterfelde marking the first passenger
‘ Passong Souret |) Ranway Elec Engineeting Associaton of pan vl, no 1, pe 3-5, Oct. 1997
electric railway. 1) la voia noth pp /7-78 sna pp 8-88 Now 1997
Flecttic operation is often preferred onHistory of
Railway Electrification in Japan
Commercial operation of electric railways
in Japan dates back to 1895 when 2 500-
V de tram system was started in Kyoto.
The first electric railway owned by the
Japanese Government Railways began op-
eration in 1906 between Ochanomizu
and Nakano in Tokyo, which used to be
long to Kobu Railways before being pur
chased by the government. The 600-V
de system was later replaced by a 1200
V de system to prevent voltage drop. In
1922, it was replaced again by a 1500-V
de system when the section between
Yokohama and Kozu was electified. The
1500-V de system is stil used today by
all DC electric railways in Japan.
The postwar increase in transportation
demand in Japan led to the introduction
of more powerful electric locomotives
around 1950. Atthat time, it was feared
that the 1500-V de system had reached
its limit, and a study was started on rail.
way electification based on commercial=
frequency, single-phase alternating
current. After successful demonstration
test on the Senzan Line, the first commer
cial operation using an electric locomo-
tive started in
Hokuriku Lines, soon followed by a 20-
KV single-phase, alternating-curren
system using a step up or boosting trans
former (87) to minimize inductive inter
ecommunication lines
957 on the Senzan and
In 1964, the Tokaido Shinkansen began
‘operations using the BT feeding system,
rrarking the first high-speed train opera-
tion with a maximum speed of 210 kn
However, i soon faced maintenance and
ther technical problems associated with
the large collection current requiring com
plex anti-arcing designs, This led to a
sludy of the auto transformer (AT) feeding
system, which was introduced on the
Yatsushiro-Nishi Kagoshima section of the
Kagoshima Line in 1970, and on the Shin
(Osaka-Okayama section of the Sanyo
z ash
ane staan
FE erttns cans 5
2 s00m Cine. eomentoataee eee
3
2 Bim
z
= Elctteatin
40 Eom = te
é se
29 ontop rays
a Seehsteon
Safe
a 6
"si6Tat T9350" TasS Toes To70 Tals Tod Taso Toss
Year
nl aponeseConermen always arse National Kavays INE om re 1948
{Marc 1Se7 and but chding pve talwaye
Shinkansen in 1972, Today, the AT feed
ing system isthe standard forall AC elec
‘tic railways in Japan,
Figure 1 shows the history of rallway elec
tification in Japan from the era ofthe Japa-
ese Government Railways until the
present JRs. Figure 2 maps the various
systems in Japan, Roughly speaking, the
1500-V dc system is used on the conven-
tional railways in Honshu (Kanto, Tokai,
Kansai, and Chugoku districts) and
ShikokU, while the 20-kV ac system is
mainly used in Hokkaido, northern
Honshu (Tohoku and Hokuriku distits
and Kyushu. All shinkansen use the 25-
kV ac system. In contrast, most private
railways tely on the 1500-V de system,
while the 600- oF 750-V de system is used
by subways and some other railways
Various Feeding Systems
From power station to railway
sub-station
The electtic power generated by power
stations is catied to electric railway sub-
stations by tansmsion lines. JR ast has
its own hydroelectric power station in
Nilgata Prefecture (on the Shinano River
as well as a thermal power station in
Kawasaki City in Kanagawa Prefecture,
“These (wo power stations supply the rail-
ways in the Tokyo metropolitan area,
In Japan, the receiving voltage at sub-
stations for direct-current electric railways
is usually extra-high tension at 22, 66, oF
77 kV, This is converted to 1200 V
by a transformer, and then to direct cur-
rent by a rectifier atthe rated voltage of
1500 V {no-load voltage of 1620 V). Sub-
ways and some private railways use 600
(F750 V de
“The receiving voltage for alternating-cur-
rent conventional electric railways is an
cextra-high voltage of 66, 77, 110, of 154
KV, The shinkansen use receiving volt=
ages of 77, 154, 220, of 275 KV. The con-
ventional railways use a feeding voltage
ff 20 kV, and the shinkansen use single-
phase at 25 kV.cud
Figure 2 Map of Railway Electrification of JR Group in Japan
‘Convertors,
Batwaye
Shinanson
DC feeding system
A direct-curent feeding system features 2
three-phase bridged silicon rectifier for
conversion from altemating to direct cur
Figure 3. Structure of a DC Feeding System
Spake Reaitar_| epulse Renae
Trronpaee AC Teronphaae AC rent. Since the three-phase rectifier uses a
I ages) tae {ple system, it cases lower harmonics
sranstorer a Q anstarer inthe Aidan dioren inte age
o 8 waveform, lowering the power quality. To
Li | pHs whe elena etre ree
ectiter 15004 1.500 Ve eciter titer design using a 12-pulse sytem f
¥ caans tungtwoses of puss rectying hes
on spoea pod with AC input voltage phases 30° apart,
helt ese m Wea
IL CLS connected in series or parallel, is us
RR RR Figure 3 an example showing the struc-
ture of feeding circuit connected to
zt mpc, boot rl, the nearest substation, Section and te
co ‘io posts are sometimes used to prevent volt.
L—,! age drops on double tracks where sub-
Sciacca Rall stations ae located far apart, In this case,
the up and down tacks are connected by