Upgrade of SEPTA's regional rail power system

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) operates a rapid transit system of commuter lines in the Philadelphia metropolitan area of the USA. The system, known as the Regional Rail Lines, consists of routes formerly owned by the Reading and Pennsylvania Railroads. The former Reading system is supplied with traction power from SEPTA's own substation at Wayne Junction and the former Pennsylvania system is supplied by Amtrak's traction power system. Since the traction power supply networks are of different types and operate independently, they need to be separated by phase breaks in the overhead power distribution system. The tracks of both systems are joined through the Center City Commuter Connection (CCCC) enabling trains to operate from one system to another. The subject of this paper is the engineering effort performed on the former Reading Railroad system. The Reading Railroad was electrified in the 1930s and a large part of the original equipment is still in service today. However, many subsystems and components are at the end of their useful life and need to be replaced. In late 1980s, SEPTA has modernized the key component of the traction power system-the Wayne Junction power supply facility. The original rotary (motor-generator) frequency converters were replaced by three static frequency converters (SFCs) and a new 230 kV/13.2 kV substation was erected to provide reliable supply to the SFCs.