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Railway electrification systems and configurations

Conference Paper · August 1999

DOI: 10.1109/PESS.1999.784389 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 Benefits of a Low Frequency, Low Voltage
Railway Electrification System
Bharat Bhargava
Southern California Edison Company
Rosemead, California 91770
ABSTRACT
The benefits of a low frequency (15-20 HZ) railway
electrification system are presented in this paper. The low
frequency railway electrification system has been used in
European countries for almost a century. The railway
electrification load is one of the worst kinds of load to be
fed by an electrical utility. It requires over sized substation
facilities and results in power quality deterioration. With
the modern day power electronics technology available for
frequency conversion and the high power quality demanded
by the utility power customers, the low frequency systems
will provide an affordable and desirable railway
electrification system.
INTRODUCTION
The low frequency electrified railway system has been
in operation for over a century in Sweden, Germany and
other European countries. With the modern day power
electronics technology available for frequency conversion,
and the high power quality demanded by the utility power
customers, the low frequency system is likely to make the
railway electrification system more affordable and
desirable. This paper will detail specifically how low
frequency railway electrification may provide economic
and superior performance over the present railway
electrification system in America.
The United States has the highest mileage of railway
tracks in the World, but is the least electrified when
compared to other industrialized countries. Only one
percent of the 244,000 miles of railway track is electrified
in the U.S. The reasons for the low level of electrification
have been the abundance of cheap diesel oil and the high
cost of railway electrification. However, because of
environmental constraints, several major U.S. cities are
considering railway electrification. Also, several major
cities and their Metropolitan areas are either building or
expanding their Metro rail system and building electrified
railway traction systems. These environmental pressures
will continue and will force railway electrification on the
heavily traveled freight routes. In view of this, this may be
an opportune time to select an appropriate railway
electrification system which could provide superior
performance at an economical price.
RAILWAY INDUSTRY IN USA AND EUROPE
Railway usage in the U.S. differs greatly from the
railway industry in Europe and on other continents. They
are primarily used for freight in the U.S. The freight trains
in the U.S. are much larger and carry a much higher load as
compared to those in Europe and in other parts of the
World. Since the railways are generally used for freight
movement in the U.S., they do not have to move as fast as
in other European countries where the railway usage is for
personal travel. The freight trains in the U.S. often carry
double stacks, which require much higher electrical
clearances. The railways are operated by private companies
and two or more companies operate in the same general
area carrying freight from major ports to the main
consumption areas in the country. For local transportation
and the commute from work to home, the desired mode of
transportation has been the automobile. Because of the low
cost, faster service and longer distances involved in the
United States, air travel has been the primary people
mover.
On the other hand, in Europe and even in most of the
rest of the World, the railways are the primary people
mover. Railway travel is not only used in the inner cities,
but also for the daily commute to work in the city from the
outskirts of the city. The railway trains move the people as
well as the freight. Air travel is used rarely and for longer
distances only. European countries provide railway
transportation at an affordable price. The train speeds have
steadily increased to reduce travel time, and TGV trains
travelling as fast as 330 MPH are in operation in France.
In view of these marked differences in public attitude,
railways have flourished steadily in Europe and other major
parts of the World, whereas they have been used to a
limited extent in the United States and mostly for freight
transportation. Amtrak was set up by the U.S. Government
to encourage railway travel.
FUTURE FOR RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION :
The extensive railway route length in the United States
will require large amounts of capital investment for railway
electrification maintenance and operation. Because of the
large amounts of new capital and the low investment return,
there is reluctance to electrify the railways on the part of the
railway companies. Therefore, the electrification has still
not been done except for heavily traveled routes. Reducing
the cost of railway electrification will generate incentives
for the railway companies and will help in expediting
railway electrification.
The U.S. railways are under pressure due to the
environment to electrify some routes which are either
heavily traveled corridors or carry large quantities of
freight. Since most of the tracks in America are already
built and in service, most of the civil work is already in
place. Electrification of these routes will require extensive
civil modifications, like lowering the railway tracks or
raising the overhead bridges, etc., which is in itself very
expensive. The completed civil engineering work limits the
choice of voltages as the higher voltage operating systems
may require extensive civil work modifications and turn out
to be more expensive. Innovative methods of reducing the
operational voltages, which will eventually reduce civil
work costs, are required.
Railway electrification costs in the U.S. can be reduced
and railway electrification/utility system performance can
be improved by suitable selection of the railway
electrification system. Modern day power electronics
technology developments such as the high power thyristors
and the Gate Turn Off thyristors (GTO) can make it
economically attractive to select systems with frequencies
other than the utility system frequency. As a result of these
developments in power electronics, the principle of
frequency conversion is being used extensively not only to
improve the operational efficiency of the induction motor
application, but will provide superior speed control. The
same principles can be applied to railway electrification
system improvements and cost reduction.
The best fit for a U. S. railway electrification system
could be to select a low frequency, low voltage system. The
low frequency (like 15 HZ or 20 HZ), of the traction power
system will enable the U.S. to increase the distance between
the system by increasing the distance between two
successive substations. Also, lowering the frequency would
provide a margin to lower the voltage from the 25 KV
catenary voltage most commonly used to 15 KV - 16.5 KV,
which could enable reducing the clearance requirements
thus reducing the civil modification costs.
RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION SYSTEMS IN USA
Electrification System (Voltage, Frequency):
The railway electrification system in America has
generally been electrified for commuter rails. There are
some widely traveled routes such as the Amtrak northeast
corridor railway between Boston, Massachusetts and New
Haven, Connecticut which were electrified recently. The
electrification system is supplied by a single phase auto
transformer +/- 25 KV catenary voltage[1]. The frequency
in this system is 60 HZ. This is the most commonly used
railway electrification alternative.
There are some exclusive freight trains electrified in
the U.S. as well, particularly the Black Mesa-Lake Powell
railroad, which carries coal for the Navajo steam plant[2].
The freight train for the Black Mesa-Lake Powell is a
unique system built in the wilderness. Considerable
economy in the substations has been achieved by building
the line on 50 KV catenary voltage and using series
compensation. The entire railway line, which is about 80
miles long, is fed from a single substation. Since this
railway line is in the wilderness and the railway line is for
coal haulage, the economy has been achieved by partially
compromising the reliability.
There are some railway electrification systems in the
eastern U.S. operating at low voltage and low frequency.
The New Jersey Coastline between Rahway and Matawan-
Longbranch operates at 12 KV, 25 HZ. The low frequency
used is 25 HZ. The frequency conversion is done using
rotary converters and cyclo-converters[3]. Although this is
a low frequency system, it appears that the full benefits of
the lower frequency have not been exploited by this railway
electrification.
As indicated above, the trains in the U.S. are mostly
used for freight. Passenger traffic is comparatively much
smaller and mostly confined to very heavily traveled routes.
Some of these heavily traveled routes are San Diego-Los
Angeles, Washington-New York, and New Haven-
Connecticut, etc. The train travel is usually limited to
distances less than 150 to 200 miles. The larger distances
such as San Francisco-LA, LA-Phoenix or LA-Las Vegas,
etc. which are in the range of 250-500 miles are mostly
traveled by airplane.
Railway Electrification Substations:
The railway electrification substations in U.S. typically feed
20 miles of route length, 10 miles on each side of the
railway electrification substation. The railway tracks are
generally double tracks and each substation feeds about 40
miles of Single Track Mile (STM). Thus the distance
between each substation is about 20 miles. The distance
between each substation is usually limited because of the
voltage drop in the catenary[4,5]. The railway
electrification load is a single phase load on the secondary
side of the transformer which feeds the catenary. This
results in a highly unbalanced load on the electrical system.
The catenary can be serviced from either a 25 KV or 50 KV
voltage catenary to ground. The auto transformer system is
supplied with a voltage level of +/- 25 KV when large loads
have to be fed as in the case of northeast corridor
electrification[5,6]. The primary side of the substation
transformer can be connected phase to ground or between
two phases. From the utility standpoint, it is desirable to
connect the primary of the transformer between two phases
as the railway load is fed from two phases and the loading
on a single phase and unbalanced load is reduced. A typical
layout for a railway substation is shown in Figure 1. The
two adjacent substations are thus fed from two different sets
of phases. Substation A in Figure 1 may be fed from phases
AB, Substation B from BC and Substation C from phases
CA. The catenaries between the substations are separated
by Phase Breaks, which is a portion of the catenary with
no power from either substation.
Sub. A Sub. B Sub. C
Phase A
Phase B
Phase C
Figure 1. Power Distribution System for Three Adjacent
Railway Electrification Substations
The train relies on its inertia to move through this
phase break distance. When a train travels from Substation
A to B and passes through the phase break, the train load on
the system will be switched from Substation phases AB
(Substation A) to BC (Substation B) and when it travels
from Substation B to C the load will be switched from
phases BC (Substation B) to phases CA (Substation C). The
sudden change in the train load or the load on the substation
as the train moves out of the substation jurisdiction, will
cause voltage flicker and is usually observable even at a
very low percentage change. The perceptibility of this
flicker is dependent on the voltage change and its
frequency. If the change becomes too frequent or large then
it will cause annoyance to the people who may be supplied
power from this common substation bus. The irritability is
dependent on the frequency of occurrence and the
percentage of voltage change and is generally analyzed
using a voltage flicker curve. A frequently traveled route
may result in annoyed utility customers and result in more
frequent complaints.
Number of Substations and other Major Railway
Electrification Costs :
The number of substations built to supply a railway
electrification system has a direct impact on the cost of the
railway electrification project. The other factors which will
influence the cost are the size of the substation and the
voltage level required to feed the railway electrification
load. The number of substations could be reduced if a
substation can provide power for greater track length. As
indicated above, this track length served from a substation
is usually limited by the catenary voltage drop. Higher
conductor size, if used, would reduce losses, increase
current capacity, but would not significantly reduce the
inductive voltage drop and thus not solve the voltage drop
problem.
Innovative methods as in the case of the Black Mesa-
Lake Powell line have been used to reduce the number of
substations and thus the cost of railway electrification. The
methods include going to higher voltage (50 KV), and using
harmonic filtering and series compensation at the middle of
the line to reduce the voltage drop further[2]. Other
methods used to supply large loads are the auto-transformer
feeder method, etc.[6].
Power Requirements and Other Needs of Railway
Electrification :
The freight trains in America are run by four to six
diesel locomotives. With each diesel locomotive providing
power of about 4.0 MW, the total train load can be between
18-24 MW. This load level is considerably higher than the
commuter loads in the U.S. or the freight and commuter
trains in other countries. With up to four trains within the
substation jurisdiction, the substation peak load can be
estimated to be between 60-100 MVA.
The train load depends on a multitude of factors, such
as the train load, train headway, train speed, load hauled,
the track profile, etc. The railway electrification load is
generally determined using Train Simulation Programs.
The programs can give a reasonably accurate load
prediction. Generally when a system is designed, it must be
designed keeping in mind the future development or the
ultimate needs the railway electrification system has to
serve.
The freight trains with loads above 18 to 24 MW could
require substations at shorter distances or higher voltage or
auto transformer service because of higher loads and power
requirements. The possible alternative arrangement to
reduce the catenary voltage drop to maintain the distance
separation is to increase catenary service voltage with an
auto transformer arrangement to +/- 25 KV. This system
runs a parallel feeder circuit to maintain about 50 KV
service voltage between the positive and the negative feeder
circuit but the railway catenary voltage to ground is at 25
KV. This system is being used in the Boston-New Haven
northeast corridor railway line.
Several studies conducted recently have shown that a
50 KV phase to ground system for railway electrification
could be less expensive, but would require extensive civil
work modifications. The civil work would therefore
increase the cost of overall electrification considerably.
Design Basis for the Railway Electrification Loads :
When designing a railway electrification system, the
system is generally designed to operate with full efficiency
even with the loss of a substation. Thus in Figure 1, the
system must be able to withstand the loss of Substation B
without any impact on train efficiency. Substations A and C
should be able to feed the power when the trains are in the
respective area. This basically puts a demand of almost 150
percent of the nominal substation load on each of the
substations as each substation should be able to withstand
the loss of the adjacent substation. As such, Substation A
should be able to carry the load of Substation A and half of
Substation B for the loss of Substation B, Substation B
should be able to carry Substation B and half of Substation
A for the loss of Substation A, and Substation C should be
able to carry the load of Substation C and half of Substation
B, for the loss of Substation B, etc. These loads thus
become the basis for the design of the system and for
determining the voltage unbalance, harmonics, voltage
flicker, etc.
POWER QUALITY CONSIDERATIONS FOR
RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION LOADS:
The railway electrification load is one of the worst
kinds of load for an electrical utility to supply. The only
load which gives more challenge to the utility is arc furnace
load. The railway electrification load is highly intermittent,
irregular, low load factor and poor power factor. The
railway electrification load creates system voltage and
current unbalance, generates harmonics and results in
voltage flicker. Because of the above characteristics, the
railway electrification load generally requires oversized
substation facilities. It stresses the electrical utility
equipment more and also causes interference with other
customer loads and often complaints from the other utility
customers, etc. The railway electrification load is fed on
single or two phases of the electrical utility system. This
load has always been a challenge to utility engineers and
results in increased electrification cost to the railways.
Some recently electrified railroads and the utilities are using
extremely tight power quality standards to maintain
acceptable power quality to other customers. They have
also installed expensive Static Load Balancing devices to
reduce voltage unbalance and flicker problems[8]. Some of
the common power quality characteristics of the loads are
discussed below:
Voltage Unbalance:
The most restrictive criteria among voltage unbalance,
voltage flicker or harmonics is the voltage and current
unbalance. Voltage unbalance in an electrical utility system
is caused by unbalanced load or the untransposed
transmission system. Railway electrification load is an
unbalanced load as it is fed from one or two phases only.
Voltage unbalance is dependent on the unbalanced load and
the power system source strength or the available short
circuit duty at the substation. The short circuit duty is
dependent on the transmission system and the number of
generators connected in the system. Current unbalance is
dependent on the load itself. At light load conditions, the
number of generators is lower and so the short circuit duty
is lower. The lesser number of generators results in each of
those generators sharing more unbalance current. Voltage
and current imbalance impacts both the utility and its
customers. For the utility, the unbalance results in the
negative phase sequence currents which flow into the utility
generators and result in heating the generator rotors. The
unbalance limit of a generator is dependent on the I 2T
withstand capability of the generators. Typically at
unbalanced voltage, the generators have to provide power
and negative sequence currents which heat the generator
rotors and may result in tripping the generators. For utility
customers, unbalanced voltage causes negative phase
sequence currents to flow into the motors and causes the
motors to be heated up. This reduces the motors’ capacity
and the motors have to be derated[9].
Electrical utilities in the U.S. try to limit the unbalance
to about 2 percent maximum. There is also an inherent
system unbalance present in the utility system because of
other sources. Typically these sources are the single phase
loads being fed from the distribution system, or the
untransposed high voltage transmission lines, etc. Typically
an electrical utility can see up to 0.5 - 0.8 percent unbalance
inherently present in the system. Electrical utilities make
efforts to balance these single phase loads on the
distribution system, but it is extremely difficult to reduce
the unbalance because of the random nature of the load.
Allowing for 1 percent ambient unbalance from other
sources, the voltage unbalance from the railway
electrification load will have to be limited to 1 percent.
Some utilities may allow higher ambient voltage unbalance.
Also some utilities have reported consumer complaints
when 2 percent imbalance was used[7,9]. While designing
substations and the electrification system for railway
electrification, it is always desirable to measure the ambient
voltage unbalance over a period of a couple of days. Also
the unbalance should be compared with the short circuit
duty available to actually calculate the load in the MW
causing this ambient voltage unbalance.
The typical load fed from a railway electrification
substation was estimated to be about 60 - 100 MVA. This
would allow about four trains within the substation beat.
Assuming that a 100 MVA load has to be fed from two
phases of a substation in Figure 1, and also assuming that
the ambient unbalance is 1 percent, then the short circuit
duty must be more than 10,000 MVA to limit the voltage
drop to less than 1 percent imbalance.
Voltage Flicker:
The voltage flicker caused by the railway
electrification load is also dependent on the system source
strength or the short circuit duty. If the source has a high
short circuit duty (say 10,000 MVA), then a 25 MVA train
load moving out of the substation will cause approximately
0.25 percent voltage change in the voltage. For a single
phase load, the short circuit duty for one phase (in this case
3333 MVA) and the flicker would be 0.75 percent. If the
power is fed from two primary phases, then the load is
divided from two phases and the flicker will be about half
or about 0.375 percent. Although unbalance is hard to
uncover, the flicker is readily perceivable and can be
detected easily by the customers.
Harmonics from Railway Electrification Load:
Most railway locomotives used today are thyristor
controlled power electronics based. This type of load
generates high levels of harmonics. Harmonic currents from
modern day locomotives have been shown to be as high as
25 percent. The voltage THD is as high as 6 percent.[6] The
harmonics can, however, be controlled by appropriate
filtering whether on board or at the substation. The
allowable harmonic levels generally depend on the utility
but IEEE-519[10] defines some guidelines. The standard
just gives a guideline and each utility must establish its own
standards. The allowable harmonics are dependent on
system characteristics. Systems with extensive shunt
capacitors have to be specially analyzed to avoid
resonances with the utility or the customers capacitor
installations. The French and English grid operators have
specified much lower harmonic limits for the Channel
Tunnel[8].
Although the levels given in IEEE-519 may not be a
major problem, the harmonics could interfere with
sophisticated control systems and other loads. The voltage
harmonics are also dependent on the short circuit duty at the
substation.
Power Factor:
The railway traction load power factor can range
between 0.5 to 0.8. Although power factor correction is
possible, the rapidly changing railway load and the power
factor still present a challenge for power factor correction.
Power factor cannot be corrected as rapidly as the load is
changing and thus rapidly changing power factor and the
load will still result in fast changes in vars from the system
and thus result in some flicker or voltage changes.
Load Factor:
The railway electrification load factor is dependent on
the train frequency and usage. The typical load factor for a
substation is about 15-25 percent depending on the train
frequency. Compared to the other utility loads, this is a poor
load factor and the energy sales are much lower compared
to the peak load demand. This type of load thus results in
excessively high investment costs for the utility.
SUBSTATION SHORT CIRCUIT DUTY, PRIMARY
VOLTAGE AND CAPACITY REQUIREMENTS:
Short Circuit Duty Requirements:
The voltage unbalance, flicker and harmonics are all
dependent on the short circuit duty level at the substation. A
high duty substation has more capability and can feed
higher unbalanced load and harmonics, or will have lower
flicker.
In order to limit the unbalance to 1 percent and
allowing for the ambient unbalance of 1 percent, the
minimum short circuit duty required to meet a 60 to 100
MVA unbalanced load would be 6,000 to 10,000 MVA.
This type of short circuit duty is only feasible on 230 KV
substations with a strong network. Also, this short circuit
duty would be required to limit the voltage flicker to 1
percent or below. Although the higher flicker levels can be
tolerated, a high train frequency could result in customer
complaints.
Substation Capacity and Primary Voltage:
The primary side substation voltage is a major concern.
Basically this will establish the voltage level from which
the railway electrification load will be fed by the utility and
will have a major impact on the project cost. Both the
substation cost and the transmission costs will increase with
substation capacity and the voltage level. A power level of
120 MVA can easily be fed by a 69 KV or a 115 KV
substation. The typical three phase short circuit duties on a
69 KV or a 115 KV substation range from 1500 MVA to
5000 MVA. Thus the single phase load that could be fed
from these substations would be 15 MVA to 50 MVA only.
Higher design basis loads require that the short circuit duty
of the system be enough so that the voltage flicker,
unbalance and harmonics standards are satisfied. These are
dependent on the system strength at the substation. The
only solution is to push for a higher voltage system.
A 230 KV or higher voltage substation would be
required to serve single phase loads with more than 60
MVA power. Most of the substations built in France to
supply power to TGV high speed trains which feed power
to substations with 40-60 MVA capacity are built with
primary voltages of 275 KV or 400 KV. A 230 KV voltage
substation if built to provide 60-100 MVA power will be
under utilized and costly. In the U.S., these substation
voltages are typically used to provide 500-800 MVA
power.
Power Quality Problem Solutions in European
Countries:
Because of the above power quality and system
problems, some European countries have totally isolated the
railway electrification systems from other industrial and
residential loads. This of course increases their investment
in power generation and transmission but eliminates other
problems and enables them to design the electrification
system best suited for railway electrification. To solve the
problems mentioned above they have designed single
phase railway electrification systems which provide several
benefits in the utilization of the catenary system, keep the
power quality to the other customers clean, and eliminate
the current unbalance problems, etc. The railways in
Germany generate their own power, transmit and transform
it. Generating electricity and transforming it at low
frequency increases the size of the generating and
transforming equipment and results in more expensive
equipment. In contrast, Sweden purchases power from the
electric grid, transforms it and then converts it into a lower
frequency. France and some other countries have gone to
higher substation primary voltages and very restrictive
power quality standards to feed the power system from the
utility grid[11]. Going to higher voltage levels obviously is
an expensive alternative.
LOW FREQUENCY, LOW VOLTAGE SYSTEM FOR
RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION:
Frequency conversion is not only possible, but is
becoming an economically attractive alternative. The
frequency conversion is being used for accurate speed
control and energy and power savings in several industrial
processes. The cost of power frequency conversion is
dropping and the reliability is constantly improving.
Modern day control systems are making the conversion
very precise and efficient. Frequency conversion systems
can be applied to the railway electrification systems to
obtain the advantages of industrial frequency for power
generation and the low frequency system for power
distribution on the catenary. The 60 HZ frequency can be
converted to 15 or 20 HZ for railway electrification. When
converting the frequency, the low frequency system can be
operated as a single phase system. The frequency
conversion can be done using a cyclo-converter, or it can be
done using an AC/DC/AC system conversion. The
AC/DC/AC conversion is used extensively in Adjustable
Speed Drives(ASD). This would solve multitudes of
problems related to power quality, reduce the cost of
electrification, etc.
A low frequency system decreases the cost of
electrification by increasing the distance between two
successive substations, and reducing civil engineering
modification costs by enabling lowering the catenary
voltage from the 25 KV voltage commonly used in the U.S.
to 16.5 KV at 15/20 HZ. Such a system would enable
paralleling the catenaries between two substations on the
secondary side, thus increasing the capabilities of the
catenaries and reducing the power quality and unbalance
voltage problems. The various advantages that can be
derived from low frequency operation are:
BENEFITS OF A LOW FREQUENCY, LOW
VOLTAGE ALTERNATIVE:
1. Longer substation beat/less substation installations:
A lower frequency system will reduce the inductive
voltage drop in the catenary. A 15 HZ system would have
approximately one fourth the inductive voltage drop as
compared to a 60 HZ system, thus it would enable the
substations to be located at 3 to 4 times the distance
compared to a 60 HZ system based just on the voltage drop
criterion. The number of substations required could be
reduced to 30-40 percent.
2. Parallel operation of catenary from adjacent
substation:
The catenaries of the traction system can be all in
phase. They can be paralleled on the secondary side.
Paralleling the secondaries will enable the power to be
drawn from two or more substations, thus decreasing the
voltage drop further in the catenary and also distributing the
load on two or more substations. There will be a smoother
transition of load from one substation to the other as the
train moves along. Paralleling the catenaries could further
help in increasing the distance between substations and
reduce power losses in the catenaries. This would also
improve the effective utilization of the substations and
reduce the peak load thereby increasing the substation load
factor, and reducing substation size. With modern power
electronics and an advanced ASD control system, the
voltage at a substation can be controlled for optimum
loading on the substation. This will also improve the
utilization of the catenary system.
3. Reduced voltage operation at 15-16.5 KV:
Since the substation beat can be increased because of a
lower frequency and parallel operation of the catenary
system, lower catenary voltage could be used and
substantial savings are achieved in civil engineering
modifications by reducing the electrical clearance
requirements at the reduced voltage level. The lower
voltages have been used in Germany and Sweden with
success. Reducing the voltage level; however, would
increase the current in the catenary and would increase
losses which may require a higher size catenary conductor
or an additional feeder circuit.
4. Lesser electrical clearances and civil engineering
requirements:
Lower voltages will result in lower clearance
requirements. This could be useful where bridges have to be
raised, tracks have to be lowered or when the tunnels do not
permit adequate clearances for the 25 KV system. In a
recent study conducted by the Los Angeles County
Transportation Commission, a 25 KV railway
electrification system was being selected even though the
electrification costs were lower for a 50 KV system
primarily because of the higher electrical clearances
required at 50 KV.
5. Reduced substation voltage capacity or better
utilization of substation and catenary capacity:
With the 25 KV single-phase, 60 HZ system, each
substation has to be designed to provide full power for the
trains within the substation beat and half the adjacent
substation. By paralleling the traction system on the
secondary side and sharing the loads among the adjacent
substations, it is quite possible to reduce the substation
capacity or to provide larger train frequency.
6. Reduced unbalance voltage problem:
The traction load, as explained earlier, is one of the
worst kinds of load as it is often supplied from one or two
phases of a power system. The single phase load creates
voltage unbalance and other power quality problems. Very
often the substation voltage level selection is based on or is
dictated by the acceptable unbalanced voltage levels which
have to be supplied by the utility. Because of large traction
loads (60 - 100 MVA), the US utility grid would have to
supply the power from a short circuit duty source of about
10,000 MVA. This short circuit duty source is only
available at 230 KV substations or above. The unbalanced
load also generates negative sequence currents and the
substation will have to be separated adequately from the
generators. A balanced load would have to be supplied by a
high voltage system so that the traction load is separated
from the other customers or the generators.
With a low frequency traction system, the load will
appear as a balanced load on the utility system. There
would be little unbalanced voltage or current problems. The
frequency conversion system would also separate traction
load from the rest of the customers.
7. Reduced harmonics into the system:
With the low frequency system, harmonics would be
generated in the conversion equipment. Appropriate
filtering can be provided along with the conversion
equipment to limit the harmonics to acceptable levels. The
modern day electric locomotives have onboard power factor
correction and harmonic filtering. The frequency
conversion equipment filters on the system would further
reduce the harmonics generated from the locomotives and
reduce the harmonics entering into the utility system.
8. Lower voltage utility substations:
The unbalance voltage caused by the trains can become
the single most important factor which will dictate the
selection of the substation primary voltage. Adequate short
circuit duty and voltage levels are required to limit the
voltage unbalance and the harmonics at the substation.
Additional substations had to be installed by British Rail to
reduce the voltage unbalance in their Eastern Corridor
Railway line. British Rail has developed extremely
conservative power quality (unbalance, harmonics)
standards for the Channel electrification which would
require high voltage substations. SNIFF builds 275 or 400
KV substations to provide the power for TGV (Ref. 11).
Since a low frequency, low voltage system would eliminate
or reduce the power quality problems, a 40 to 60 MW load
could easily be served by a 69 KV or a 115 KV substation.
SCE’s typical 69 KV or 115 KV substations are designed to
serve up to 112 MW loads.
9. Locomotive transformer and AC motor size:
Lower traction frequency at the locomotive will require
a bigger transformer and motors in the electric locomotive.
These low frequency locomotives have, however, been used
extensively in Germany, Sweden and some other countries.
The lower frequency at the locomotive will increase the
size and the weight of the locomotive slightly. The cost
would also increase slightly. Higher weight of the electric
locomotive would improve the traction.
CONCLUSIONS
What America needs is an optimized system which will
enable electrification at the lowest overall cost including the
railway electrification costs, the electrical utility costs and
the associated civil engineering costs. The electrical utility
costs can become significant to meet the power quality
requirements and needs to be included when considering
the overall cost of railway electrification. This will reduce
the overall investment required by the railway industry.
Learning from experience with low frequency, low voltage
electrification systems such as those utilized in Sweden
could enable the US to select an optimum, cost effective
railway electrification system.
NOTE
This paper represents the views of its author and
does not necessarily represent the views of Southern
California Edison Co. or its parent organization SCE Corp.
REFERENCES
[1] Ali F. Imece, Hubert Potard and John P. Daniel,
“Electromagnetic Impact of Railway Electrification”
presented at the 1994 Mass Transit Conference held in
Dallas, Texas, in October, 1994.
[2] J. J. Burke, A. P. Engle, S. R. Gilligan and N. A.
Mincer,“Increasing the Power System Capability of the 50
KV Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad through
Harmonic Filtering and Series Compensation”, IEEE paper
No. F79284, presented at the IEEE Winter Power Meeting,
New York, February 4-9, 1979.
[3] Tristan Kneshke, “Power Supply Systems for
Electrification of the New Jersey Coast Line,” IEEE Paper
No. CH2617-5/85/0000-0029 in IEEE Publication No.
85CH2167-5 presented at the Joint IEEE/ASME Railroad
Conference in New York, New York, in April 1985.
[4] Tristan Kneshke,“ Simple Method for Determination of
Substation Spacings for AC and DC Electrification
Systems”, IEEE Paper No. CH2207-9/85/0000-0274 in
IEEE Publication No. 85CH2207-9 presented at the
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Toronto, Canada, in October, 1985.
[5] Tristan Kneshke, “Substation Spacing for AC
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Paper No. 82-RT-4 in IEEE Publication No. 82-CH1778-0
presented at the Joint IEEE/ASME Railroad Conference in
Erie, Pennsylvania, in April 1982.
[6] P Stecuik, J. J.Burke, “The Impact of Railroad
Electrification on Utility System Power Quality”, presented
at the 1994 Mass Transit Conference held in Dallas , Texas
in October, 1994.
[7] Tristan Kneshke, “Control of Utility System Unbalance
Caused by Single Phase Electric Traction”, IEEE Paper No.
CH2060-2/84/0000-0259 in IEEE Publication No.
85CH2060-2 presented at the Industrial Application Society
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[8] R. Bedrune , F. Gallon, A. Maher, J. S. Finn and J. M.
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[9] ANSI C84.1 -1989, Appendix D, Polyphase Voltage
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[10] IEEE Standard 519-1992, “IEEE Recommended
Practices and Requirements for Harmonic Control in
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[11] Bharat Bhargava, “What America Can Learn from
Railway Electrification Systems in Europe,” presented at
the 1994 Mass Transit Conference at Dallas, Texas,
October, 1994.
Bharat Bhargava
Mr. Bharat Bhargava is a Senior Engineer in the
Transmission / Substation Engineering Reliability Group
of the Southern California Edison Company in Rosemead,
California. He is actively involved in transient analysis and
power system studies such as SSR, System Dynamics,
Power System Stabilizers, Power Quality, Railway
Electrification, capacitor switching studies, etc. Mr.
Bhargava has been involved in several research projects
such as the NGH SSR protective device, and recently in the
procurement, installation and testing of an Energy Source
Power System Stabilizer for a 10 MW/40 MWH Battery
Energy Storage System at Chino Substation. Mr. Bhargava
was a member of the team from SCE that visited four
European countries in December 1991 to study the various
railway electrification systems in Europe. This paper is
based on that visit.
Mr. Bhargava graduated from Delhi University in 1961
with a Masters from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in
1976. He worked with UP State Electricity Board in India
from 1961 to 1975. Mr. Bhargava is a Senior Member of
IEEE PAS, IAS and Vehicular Societies, and a Member of
CIGRE.
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