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Railway electrification is the use of electric power for the propulsion of rail transport. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), electric multiple units ( passenger cars with their own motors) or both.
This first electrification system with GE-built boxcabs were the only three-phase AC power ever used on North America railroads, see Three-phase AC railway electrification. The electric boxcabs pulled trains through the tunnel with their steam locomotives still attached until they were retired in 1927.
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.
Main-line third-rail electrification was later expanded to some suburban services. The Woodford haulage system was used on industrial tramways, specifically in quarries and strip mines in the early decades of the 20th century. This used a 250-volt center third rail to power remotely-controlled self-propelled side dump cars.
The system is also known as the Southend Electrification, in contrast to Amtrak's 60 Hz traction power system that runs between Boston and New Haven, which is known as the Northend Electrification system. In 1976, Amtrak inherited the system from Penn Central, the successor to the Pennsylvania Railroad, along with the rest of the NEC infrastructure
Railway electrification using alternating current (AC) at 15 kilovolts (kV) and 16.7 hertz (Hz) are used on transport railways in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway. The high voltage enables high power transmission with the lower frequency reducing the losses of the traction motors that were available at the beginning of the 20th ...
The Reading electrification system was designed for suburban MU operations and did not have to support the main line passenger or through freight operations of the rival Pennsylvania Railroad. While a complex system of high-voltage transmission lines was not necessary, the system was large enough to require the use of distribution feeders from ...
The diesel operated trains on the slow Borderlands line terminate at Bidston railway station in Birkenhead, with passengers having to change trains onto the Merseyrail electric network to proceed into Liverpool's centre. Network Rail proposed using dual battery powered/3rd rail pickup rolling stock without full electrification of the line ...