Ground Level Power Supply: Railway Vision for the Future

By Fouad Sabry

What Is Ground Level Power Supply

In the concept and group of technologies known as ground-level power supply (also known as surface current collection or, in French, alimentation par le sol), electric vehicles collect electric power at ground level from individually powered segments as opposed to the more common overhead power lines. The usage of a power supply located at ground level has been done largely for aesthetic reasons. In the latter part of the 2010s, it began to compete well with the overhead lines in terms of cost.

How You Will Benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Ground-level power supply

Chapter 2: Tram

Chapter 3: Light rail

Chapter 4: Overhead line

Chapter 5: Third rail

Chapter 6: Alstom Citadis

Chapter 7: Pantograph (transport)

Chapter 8: Conduit current collection

Chapter 9: Bombardier Guided Light Transit

Chapter 10: Tramway track

Chapter 11: History of trams

Chapter 12: Stud contact system

Chapter 13: Reims tramway

Chapter 14: Current collector

Chapter 15: Rubber-tyred tram

Chapter 16: Trams in France

Chapter 17: Road-powered electric vehicle

Chapter 18: Torquay Tramways

Chapter 19: Rio de Janeiro Light Rail

Chapter 20: Acumulador de Carga R-pida

Chapter 21: Alstom APS

(II) Answering the public top questions about ground level power supply.

(III) Real world examples for the usage of ground level power supply in many fields.

(IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of ground level power supply' technologies.

Who This Book Is For

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of ground level power supply.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Oct 25, 2022

Book preview

Copyright

Ground Level Power Supply Copyright © 2022 by Fouad Sabry. All Rights Reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

Cover designed by Fouad Sabry.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Bonus

You can send an email to [e-mail] with the subject line Ground Level Power Supply: Railway vision for the future, and you will receive an email which contains the first few chapters of this book.

Fouad Sabry

Visit 1BK website at

www.1BKOfficial.org

Preface

Why did I write this book?

The story of writing this book started on 1989, when I was a student in the Secondary School of Advanced Students.

It is remarkably like the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Schools, which are now available in many advanced countries.

STEM is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. This term is typically used to address an education policy or a curriculum choice in schools. It has implications for workforce development, national security concerns and immigration policy.

There was a weekly class in the library, where each student is free to choose any book and read for 1 hour. The objective of the class is to encourage the students to read subjects other than the educational curriculum.

In the library, while I was looking at the books on the shelves, I noticed huge books, total of 5,000 pages in 5 parts. The books name is The Encyclopedia of Technology, which describes everything around us, from absolute zero to semiconductors, almost every technology, at that time, was explained with colorful illustrations and simple words. I started to read the encyclopedia, and of course, I was not able to finish it in the 1-hour weekly class.

So, I convinced my father to buy the encyclopedia. My father bought all the technology tools for me in the beginning of my life, the first computer and the first technology encyclopedia, and both have a great impact on myself and my career.

I have finished the entire encyclopedia in the same summer vacation of this year, and then I started to see how the universe works and to how to apply that knowledge to everyday problems.

My passion to the technology started mor than 30 years ago and still the journey goes on.

This book is part of The Encyclopedia of Emerging Technologies which is my attempt to give the readers the same amazing experience I had when I was in high school, but instead of 20th century technologies, I am more interested in the 21st century emerging technologies, applications, and industry solutions.

The Encyclopedia of Emerging Technologies will consist of 365 books, each book will be focused on one single emerging technology. You can read the list of emerging technologies and their categorization by industry in the part of Coming Soon, at the end of the book.

365 books to give the readers the chance to increase their knowledge on one single emerging technology every day within the course of one year period.

Introduction

How did I write this book?

In every book of The Encyclopedia of Emerging Technologies, I am trying to get instant, raw search insights, direct from the minds of the people, trying to answer their questions about the emerging technology.

There are 3 billion Google searches every day, and 20% of those have never been seen before. They are like a direct line to the people thoughts.

Sometimes that’s ‘How do I remove paper jam’. Other times, it is the wrenching fears and secret hankerings they would only ever dare share with Google.

In my pursuit to discover an untapped goldmine of content ideas about Ground Level Power Supply, I use many tools to listen into autocomplete data from search engines like Google, then quickly cranks out every useful phrase and question, the people are asking around the keyword Ground Level Power Supply.

It is a goldmine of people insight, I can use to create fresh, ultra-useful content, products, and services. The kind people, like you, really want.

People searches are the most important dataset ever collected on the human psyche. Therefore, this book is a live product, and constantly updated by more and more answers for new questions about Ground Level Power Supply, asked by people, just like you and me, wondering about this new emerging technology and would like to know more about it.

The approach for writing this book is to get a deeper level of understanding of how people search around Ground Level Power Supply, revealing questions and queries which I would not necessarily think off the top of my head, and answering these questions in super easy and digestible words, and to navigate the book around in a straightforward way.

So, when it comes to writing this book, I have ensured that it is as optimized and targeted as possible. This book purpose is helping the people to further understand and grow their knowledge about Ground Level Power Supply. I am trying to answer people’s questions as closely as possible and showing a lot more.

It is a fantastic, and beautiful way to explore questions and problems that the people have and answer them directly, and add insight, validation, and creativity to the content of the book – even pitches and proposals. The book uncovers rich, less crowded, and sometimes surprising areas of research demand I would not otherwise reach. There is no doubt that, it is expected to increase the knowledge of the potential readers’ minds, after reading the book using this approach.

I have applied a unique approach to make the content of this book always fresh. This approach depends on listening to the people minds, by using the search listening tools. This approach helped me to:

Meet the readers exactly where they are, so I can create relevant content that strikes a chord and drives more understanding to the topic.

Keep my finger firmly on the pulse, so I can get updates when people talk about this emerging technology in new ways, and monitor trends over time.

Uncover hidden treasures of questions need answers about the emerging technology to discover unexpected insights and hidden niches that boost the relevancy of the content and give it a winning edge.

The building block for writing this book include the following:

(1) I have stopped wasting the time on gutfeel and guesswork about the content wanted by the readers, filled the book content with what the people need and said goodbye to the endless content ideas based on speculations.

(2) I have made solid decisions, and taken fewer risks, to get front row seats to what people want to read and want to know — in real time — and use search data to make bold decisions, about which topics to include and which topics to exclude.

(3) I have streamlined my content production to identify content ideas without manually having to sift through individual opinions to save days and even weeks of time.

It is wonderful to help the people to increase their knowledge in a straightforward way by just answering their questions.

I think the approach of writing of this book is unique as it collates, and tracks the important questions being asked by the readers on search engines.

Acknowledgments

Writing a book is harder than I thought and more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. None of this would have been possible without the work completed by prestigious researchers, and I would like to acknowledge their efforts to increase the knowledge of the public about this emerging technology.

Dedication

To the enlightened, the ones who see things differently, and want the world to be better -- they are not fond of the status quo or the existing state. You can disagree with them too much, and you can argue with them even more, but you cannot ignore them, and you cannot underestimate them, because they always change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones or amateur, others see genius and innovators, because the ones who are enlightened enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do, and lead the people to the enlightenment.

Epigraph

In the concept and group of technologies known as ground-level power supply (also known as surface current collection or, in French, alimentation par le sol), electric vehicles collect electric power at ground level from individually powered segments as opposed to the more common overhead power lines. The usage of a power supply located at ground level has been done largely for aesthetic reasons. In the latter part of the 2010s, it began to compete well with the overhead lines in terms of cost.

Table of Contents

Copyright

Bonus

Preface

Introduction

Acknowledgments

Dedication

Epigraph

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Ground-level power supply

Chapter 2: Tram

Chapter 3: Light rail

Chapter 4: Overhead line

Chapter 5: Third rail

Chapter 6: Alstom Citadis

Chapter 7: Pantograph (transport)

Chapter 8: Conduit current collection

Chapter 9: Bombardier Guided Light Transit

Chapter 10: Tramway track

Chapter 11: History of trams

Chapter 12: Stud contact system

Chapter 13: Reims tramway

Chapter 14: Current collector

Chapter 15: Rubber-tyred tram

Chapter 16: Trams in France

Chapter 17: Road-powered electric vehicle

Chapter 18: Torquay Tramways

Chapter 19: Rio de Janeiro Light Rail

Chapter 20: Acumulador de Carga Rápida

Chapter 21: Alstom APS

Epilogue

About the Author

Coming Soon

Appendices: Emerging Technologies in Each Industry

Chapter 1: Ground-level power supply

The concept of ground-level power supply, also known as surface current collection and, in French, alimentation par le sol (which literally translates to feeding via the ground), refers to a group of technologies that enable electric vehicles to collect electric power at ground level from individually powered segments as opposed to the more conventional overhead power lines. The usage of a power supply located at ground level has been done largely for aesthetic reasons. In the latter part of the 2010s, it started to become more cost-effective than overhead wires.

The development of electric tramways marks the beginning of ground-level power supply systems. Some of the early ground-level power supply systems used conduit current collecting. New systems, such as the Alstom APS, Ansaldo Tramwave, CAF ACR, Elways, and others, have been introduced since the turn of the 21st century. These new systems use modern technology to address some of the limitations and dangers of the older systems, and they supply power for buses, trucks, and electric cars. Ground-level power supply systems are used in smaller segments of the line to charge the batteries due to the greater efficiency and energy density of capacitor and battery driven systems. For example, only during station stops for buses and trains, ground-level power supply systems are employed.

As far back as 1881, when the Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway was constructed, conduit current gathering systems were put into operation.

The 1970s through the 1990s saw the development of a variety of ground-level power supply technologies, Electric highways provide electricity to electric cars as well as charge them while they are in motion. Electric road systems that charge the batteries of trucks and electric cars have been tested in Sweden. Among the systems that have been tested are two ground-level power supply systems that have been tested since 2017: one is an in-road rail system developed by Elways-Evias, and the other is an on-road rail system developed by Elonroad.

In the year 2020, Alstom, Elonroad, and a number of other firms started working on the creation of a standard for the ground-level power supply electric roadways.

The Ansaldo Stream system was the very first contemporary ground-level power delivery system that was ever constructed. System of Electric Transport by Magnetic Attraction is the literal translation of the abbreviation STREAM, which stands for the Italian phrase Sistema di TRasporto Elettrico ad Attrazione Magnetica. The system makes use of a channel in the roadway that is constructed out of an insulating composite fiberglass material and contains a flexible copper strip. When a vehicle equipped with a special magnetic contact shoe drives over the channel, it brings the conductor to the surface and enables electricity to flow to the vehicle. Only when a vehicle drives over certain sections of the strip do those sections get electricity. 1994 was the year that saw the development of the system.

The Alstom APS system makes use of a third rail that is positioned in between the running rails and is electronically segmented into 11-meter-long pieces. These sections turn on and off by themselves depending on whether or not a tram is traveling over them; thus eliminates any potential danger to other drivers or pedestrians on the road. Innorail, a division of Spie Enertrans that was later sold to Alstom when Spie was purchased by Amec, was the company that was responsible for developing APS. It was first developed for the Bordeaux tramway, which began construction in the year 2000 and opened its doors in 2003. At the time of its opening, it was the first modern commercial ground-level power supply system. Since the year 2011, this technology has been implemented in a variety of additional cities all around the globe.

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) trialed its Acumulador de Carga Rápida (ACR) ground-level power supply system in 2007 in Seville.

The ACR ground-level power supply system was implemented on some segments of the Seville MetroCentro tramway near the Seville Cathedral.

ACR’s first commercial installation was aboard Urbos trams supplied to MetroCentro in 2011, permitting the removal of the overhead wires in a permanent manner surrounding the cathedral.

The Ansaldo TramWave ground-level power supply system was successfully implemented into commercial application in 2017, with the opening of the first phase of the Zhuhai tram Line 1 in China. This system was derived from the Ansaldo Stream system and developed by the Italian company Ansaldo STS, which later became Hitachi Rail STS. The tram is the first completely low-floor tram system to incorporate technologies for providing electricity from the ground up.

{End Chapter 1}

Chapter 2: Tram

A tram is a kind of train that operates on a tramway track on public urban streets. In North America, this type of train is also known as a streetcar, tramcar, trolley, or trolleycar. Some trams have parts that travel on segregated right-of-way. Tramways are another name for the lines or networks that are used by tramcars as public transportation. They may also just be called tram or streetcar. The name light rail is being used by a number of newly constructed tramways. In North America, the vehicles are referred to as streetcars or trolleys (not to be confused with trolleybuses), although in other parts of the world, they are called trams or tramcars. In the United States, the words trolley and streetcar are often interchanged, with trolley being the term of choice in the eastern United States and streetcar being the term of choice in the western United States. In Canada, the predominant mode of transportation is the streetcar or tramway. In some regions of the United States, buses with internal propulsion systems that are styled to mimic streetcars are often referred to as trolleys. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) refers to them as trolley-replica buses to prevent additional misunderstanding with trolley buses. There have been instances in which the name tram has been used to refer to rubber-tired trackless trains in the United States. These trains have no connection to other types of trams.

Tram cars are typically smaller, lighter, and shorter in length compared to those of main line and rapid transit trains. The majority of trams in use today are powered by electrical current, which is typically supplied by a pantograph that slides over an overhead line. Older systems may make use of a trolley pole or a bow collector instead. A contact shoe mounted on a third rail is employed in a few of the scenarios. In the event that it is required, they may have dual power systems, which include electricity for the city streets and diesel for the more rural areas. Freight is sometimes transported on trams as well. It is currently usual practice to include trams under the broader term light rail, which also encompasses grade-separated transportation lines. In a manner similar to that of interurban systems, some trams, often referred to as tram-trains, may be equipped with sections that operate on mainline railway lines. The distinctions between these various forms of rail transportation are sometimes blurry, and any particular system may incorporate many of their characteristics.

ULR trains, sometimes known as trams, are a growing form of light weight rail, and/or onboard power solutions, such as hydrogen, biomethane, or batteries, may result in decreased or eliminated OHL. As a result, the costs of installation might be cheaper than those of conventional trains and trams.

The low rolling resistance of metal wheels on steel rails was one of the benefits of trams over older types of public transportation. This advantage allowed trams to pull a bigger weight with the same amount of effort. One of the issues was the very high overall expenditure required to own horses. During the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, electric trams were mostly used instead of horse power. Trams fell out of favor in the middle of the 20th century as a result of the development of other modes of transportation such as buses. Trams, on the other hand, have had something of a renaissance in recent years. The Aubagne tramway, located in Southern France, was the first tram system in the world that did not need riders to purchase tickets in the year 2014.

Trams, often known as streetcars or trolley networks, have a history that dates back to the early nineteenth century. It is possible to separate it into numerous distinct eras that are differentiated by the primary sources of power that were used.

The Swansea and Mumbles Railway, located in Wales, United Kingdom, is credited as being the world's first passenger train or tram. In 1804, the Mumbles Railway Act was approved by the British Parliament, and the first horse-drawn service began the following year in 1807. A great number of European towns contributed to the development of the tram (some of the most extensive systems were found in Berlin, Budapest, Birmingham, Saint Petersburg, Lisbon, London, Manchester, Paris, Kyiv).

In 1858, the city of Santiago, Chile, became the location of the opening of the first tram in all of South America. In 1860, the city of Sydney became home to Australia's first public tram system. On January 8, 1863, Alexandria became the location of the first public tram service in Africa. In 1869, Batavia, which is now known as Jakarta, in the Netherlands East Indies, became the first city in Asia to use trams (now Indonesia).

Problems with horsecars included the fact that any given animal could only work for a certain number of hours on any given day, that