Do trams need cables?

Overhead wires are used for both trams and light rail systems. Electric trams use various devices to collect power from overhead lines. The most common device found today is the pantograph, while some older systems use trolley poles or bow collectors. Ground-level power supply has become a recent innovation.



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A pantograph (or pan or panto) is an apparatus mounted on the roof of an electric train, tram or electric bus to collect power through contact with an overhead line. The term stems from the resemblance of some styles to the mechanical pantographs used for copying handwriting and drawings.

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Trams draw their power from a single overhead wire at about 500 to 750 V DC. Trolleybuses draw from two overhead wires at a similar voltage, and at least one of the trolleybus wires must be insulated from tram wires.

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Most light rail or tram systems get their power from overhead catenary systems. Typical voltages range from 600V–750V DC, with more recent installations tending towards higher voltages. These voltages are lower than those used by traditional electrified railways, which use much higher AC voltages up to 25 kV.

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Trams cannot go around obstacles, they don't mix well with bikes, they take up too much space and “they cost a fortune,” as Washington DC can tell you.

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However, the demise of the streetcar came when lines were torn out of the major cities by bus manufacturing or oil marketing companies for the specific purpose of replacing rail service with buses. In many cases, postwar buses were cited as providing a smoother ride and a faster journey than the older, pre-war trams.

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Trams are significantly heavier than buses and require more energy to get moving from a standstill. A tram consumes 0.047 kWh/km per passenger (8). Figure 9. The electric bus, like some trams, has an electric motor, but it also needs to carry its own energy supply in the form of a battery (Figure 10).

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Streetcars (trolleys/trams) Streetcars also run on steel rails, but with no slot between the tracks, and no underground cable. Unlike the mechanical cable cars, streetcars are propelled by onboard electric motors and require a trolley pole to draw power from an overhead wire.

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Trains and trams can turn corners without wheel-slip because the outer horizontal part of the wheels has a slightly tapered rim. The guide flange (ridge) is on the inside to prevent the vehicle from slipping sideways off the rails.

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Trams, which are also known as trolley cars, are much shorter and lighted in comparison. Travelling much slower than trains (in respect for the vehicular traffic around them) trams are powered by an overhead electrical apparatus or occasionally by diesel.

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The Metrolink system can achieve low pollution levels because the trams are powered by electricity produced from modern, cleaner, greener sources – around 70% of a tram's power comes from wind or solar / photovoltaic sources as does the power on stop.

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Trams running on solar power A unique connection between the eco solar park 't Oor in the Dutch city The Hague and the power grid of regional operator HTM allows trams of Randstadrail 3 and 4 to run on solar power. There are 4,700 solar panels installed, producing over 1.4 Gigawatt hours per year for the trams.

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