01672064

Component

http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/175112.aspx

The purpose of this paper is to examine progress during the last decade in the rapidly changing development of alternative power supply for light rail and to identify major technological advances and trends likely to affect the industry in the coming decade. The authors have conducted an ongoing literature survey and utilized personal experience, onsite visits, and collaborative information exchange with suppliers and users of the technology to develop this paper. Results showed that in 2005, no light rail systems in commercial service used onboard energy storage for off-wire operation, and only one system used ground level power supply. It was expected that, by the end of 2015, eight cities would have ground level power supply systems in commercial service, and nine systems would be using onboard energy storage for off-wire operation (growing to 13 by the end of 2016). Several more systems of both types are also under construction. Development of battery, supercapacitor, flywheel, and hybrid onboard energy storage systems also continues as does onboard power generation using hydrogen fuel cells. Among the conclusion were that alternative power supply methods for light rail are entering a new phase of development. Compared with 10 years ago, a significantly larger number of “early adopter” systems are either in commercial service or under construction. Although that number is still small compared with the more than 400 light rail systems worldwide, interest is strong, and the experience gained in operating these systems is expected to facilitate additional improvements and provide specific information on operating costs, including the life span of energy storage devices, and therefore, life-cycle costs. This will ideally provide decision makers with additional points to consider and some initial hard data that they currently cannot access. Proprietary technology issues remain a major factor. Application of the technology remains very project specific and may require vehicle performance trade-offs. Design requires careful analysis of alignment and duty cycle, including local climate factors. More sophisticated tools are needed to properly analyze the various system characteristics and consider a variety of scenarios to arrive at a reliable, cost-effective off-wire system design.

01613496

English

pp 47-64

2016-9

Transportation Research Circular

13th National Light Rail and Streetcar Conference

9780309450591

Digital/other

Tables

Electric power generation; Electric power supply; Energy storage systems; Light rail transit; Light rail vehicles; Technological innovations; Trend (Statistics)

Energy; Public Transportation; Railroads; Vehicles and Equipment

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Oct 24 2016 11:24AM

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