The stud contact systems (AKA “horse killers”) were also a precursor to APS.

As for “proven”, I want to see it working during those heavy, flood inducing downpours that overwhelm the drains. Bordeaux doesn’t have sub-tropical thunderstorms like Sydney’s, and they’ll only get more intense in the future.

Here’s a video of Line 1 of the Rio de Janeiro APS tramway opened in 2016. Note the corrugated iron huts along the line that contain the APS switching gear. In Sydney this equipment is in pits under the road, potentially vulnerable to flooding. Time will tell :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wiNIpxAwDs

I still reckon there’ll be overhead on the north end of George St within 5-10 years.

Tony

> On 10 Jan 2019, at 12:02 pm, Prescott lenkaprescott@...> wrote:

>

> Yes, but my (and a whole lot of operators') definition of "proven" includes financial. For that reason we won't see APS in scores of tram cities across Europe and around the world (including Melbourne). Few others except the well-subsidised French can afford to run it. When it has the same costs as OHW it will be successful.

>

> In 1896 and again in 1905, a locally-invented system almost identical to APS (powered only when a tram was directly above) was trialled in Prague and recommended for system-wide adoption but I gather that the cost factor won in the end. That was an early lesson.

>

> The inventor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franti%C5%A1ek_K%C5%99i%C5%BE%C3%ADk

>

> Tony P

>

> On Thursday, 10 January 2019 11:30:48 UTC+11, Matthew Geier wrote:

>

> APS has had over 10 years of 'proven' use and is on it's 3rd 'version'.

> It might be proprietary and expensive, but it is a proven 'solution'.

>

> For all the 'faults' of APS, you can't say it isn't a proven system.

> Bordeaux never followed through with the threat to make Alstom remove it

> and put up wires - Alstom eventually got it to work more or less

> properly and the use of the method has increased over time.

>

>

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