Electrical System Compatibility for Advanced Rail Vehicles: a survey

Interoperability between all subsystems of a rail network is a prerequisite for reliable and safe rail transport of passengers within and across national borders. Numerous technical barriers, such as different track widths, supply voltages, or signalling systems have long been identified. A fourth barrier, the electrical compatibility of new vehicles with the existing power supply, signalling and other vehicles, has been found to be a major obstacle: large regional transportation networks collapsed, electrical vehicle interaction caused protective shutdowns, signalling systems and barrier crossings malfunctioned, telecommunication systems have been disturbed, all due to a lack of electrical compatibility and interoperability of components in an electrical rail network. To overcome these problems the European railway industry has started together with railway operators and academic research institutions a project called "Electrical System Compatibility for Advanced Rail Vehicles (ESCARV)". An overview about the technical background of this project is given in this paper.