Is Tyne and Wear Metro the only user of 1500v DC overhead electrification?

[blue sabre]

Is it only in use in the UK by Tyne and Wear Metro, or do other light rail/tram systems use this?

 

[185]

I think so.

All including DLR (3rd Rail) are 750vdc-ish except Blackpool which is 600v.

 

[Clansman]

Doesn't the Glasgow Subway use similar voltage or is that 600v also?

 

[thenorthern]

Glasgow Subway is 600v DC yes, the Dublin Dart is 1500v DC as well but that's not in the United Kingdom so yes the Tyne and Wear Metro is the last 1500v DC railway.

 

[WatcherZero]

Some other places had it like Manchester South Junction and Altrincham. Its a hangover technology from the start of the 20th century when electrification was more primitive.

 

[najaB]

Its a hangover technology from the start of the 20th century...

Yet the Tyne and Wear Metro was electrified in the late 1970s.

 

[DerekC]

The advantage over AC for light rail is that you don't have to carry a zonking big transformer around with you. And 1500v doubles the power which can be transmitted through a catenary of a given cross section compared with the 750v used on tramways, allowing bigger motors for the heavier rolling stock.

 

[Rail Ranger]

Some other places had it like Manchester South Junction and Altrincham. Its a hangover technology from the start of the 20th century when electrification was more primitive.

Watcher,
You obviously never travelled on the MSJ&A 1500v dc sets. They had much better acceleration than the 25kv ac AM4s which replaced them. The journey time between Altrincham and Oxford Road was increased by 2 minutes (from 20 minutes to 22 minutes) when the AM4s came in. If you look at photographs the current Metrolink 750v dc catenary on the Altrincham line is almost identical to the MSJ&A 1500v dc catenary.

 

[WatcherZero]

Watcher,
You obviously never travelled on the MSJ&A 1500v dc sets. They had much better acceleration than the 25kv ac AM4s which replaced them. The journey time between Altrincham and Oxford Road was increased by 2 minutes (from 20 minutes to 22 minutes) when the AM4s came in. If you look at photographs the current Metrolink 750v dc catenary on the Altrincham line is almost identical to the MSJ&A 1500v dc catenary.

Doesn't mean it wasn't technologically more primitive.

Yes Metrolink kept and used the original equipment until the renewal in 2009.

Wasn't surprising that the class 304 wernt as quick as the class 505. The 304 were designed to operate on the limited 6.25kw AC of the Eastern region and had 830hp powering a four car unit (later reduced to 3 car) whereas the class 505 had 1312hp powering 3 carriages with a four trailer later added.

Tyne and Wear was electrified at 1500 rather than 750 simply because they opted for a budget option of doubling the voltage to half the required number of substations. It used off the shelf German 70's 750v DC light rail equipment and vehicles. The traction motors onboard actually are 2 large motors whereas most modern systems would have 4 or more smaller ones.

SP18 - Altrincham OHLE Replacement

The Altrincham OLE (between Cornbrook junction and Altrincham) was originally electrified by British Rail in the 1930's as a 1500V DC system. It was converted to 25kV AC operation in the early 1970's (BR Mk3a fixed termination equipment) and subsequently to 750V dc operation in 1990 for the Metrolink conversion, making maximum use of the existing 25kV OLE including the structures.

A condition survey, undertaken in June 2006, identified damaged, worn and life expired equipment. Following the condition survey a report was issued detailing recommendations for the repair, adjustment and renewal of equipment to improve and enhance the future operating reliability of the system.

VolkerRail Power are managing the design, installation and commissioning of 7kms of OLE wire runs and the installation of multiple OLE masts and gantries. This particular project will be uniquely challenging as there will be an interface between Metrolink and Network Rail infrastructure. The majority of the OLE renewals will take place shortly during a 30 day blockade in August 2009, with preliminary civil and preparatory works already undertaken during "Rules of The Route" weekend possessions during June and July. The contract value is circa £3.5m.

 

[snowball]

Nit in the UK but Dublin DART is also 1500V DC.

 

[thenorthern]

I think 1500v DC was going to be the standard hence why it was used for the Woodhead Line but when it was being constructed the British Transport Commission decided to use the French 25 kV AC electrification which is the one used today.

 

[apk55]

The lines out of London Liverpool st station were originally electrified at 1500V. This was converted in the early 60s to 6.25KV AC then to 25KV.

 

[HSTEd]

With the trend towards ever increasing voltages for power electronics - 15kV IGBTs are now mooted it might even be possible to build a high voltage DC electrification standard.

ACs benefits start to look rather small when the alternative is 6-7kV DC or such.

 

[AM9]

The lines out of London Liverpool st station were originally electrified at 1500V. This was converted in the early 60s to 6.25KV AC then to 25KV.

Also, the class 306 (AM6) and class 307 (AM7) EMUs were both originally 1500VDC. They were converted to 6.25/25kV (both at the same time - the lower voltage feed was uprated to 25kV in the '70s) when the GEML was converted to same.
I don't know of any definitive performance comparisons before and after but I do know that they were as capable than the newer classes 305 and 308 and could interwork with them, despite the fact that they were carrying transformers and additional ac-DC conversion hardware. Of course, the DC EMUs of those days had resistor banks whereas ac EMUs had transformer tap changers which were less wasteful of power.

 

[edwin_m]

With the trend towards ever increasing voltages for power electronics - 15kV IGBTs are now mooted it might even be possible to build a high voltage DC electrification standard.

ACs benefits start to look rather small when the alternative is 6-7kV DC or such.

That may be so if you were starting from a clean sheet, but there is so much existing investment in 25kV (and to a lesser extent 15kV and the various other systems) that it isn't worth bucking the trend. Even if you had a totally isolated railway with no prospect of linking to another one, buying trains for a non-standard electrification system would be more expensive and they would probably be less reliable due to being unproven designs.

It's nearly as fundamental as track gauge. Most countries adopted one of a small number of gauges even when they had no prospect of interworking with other countries.