The major problem with the Tramwave ground supply system in Zhuhai is said
to be ingress of water into the power supply modules.
Tony P
On Saturday, 21 August 2021 at 13:58:46 UTC+10a...@... wrote:
> A strange company, Ansaldo. When Anthony Durrant was writing his history
> of Beyer-Garratt locomotives back in the 60s he sought information from
> them about the three 2-8-2+2-8-2s they built in 1939 under licence for
> Ethiopia when it was occupied by the Italian fascists. They not only
> denied having information about the engines, they denied building them.
>
> Here is the public relations guff from them about their power supply
> solution-in-search-of-a-problem :
>
> https://www.vialibre-ffe.com/pdf/WHAS_TRAMWAVE-ANSALDO%20STS.pdf
>
>
> https://dcstreetcar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Section-D-Part-5-610-722-pagesred.pdf
>
> It relies on magnetism and gravity to operate its surface supply switching
> under the car, much like the stud contact systems of old notorious for
> electrocuting dogs and horses. What could possibly go wrong?
>
> They use this rubbish for electric buses in Venice too :
>
> [image: TramWave]
>
> Bombardier gave up on their Primove surface power system (I think it used
> induction) and with this as a conspicuous failure from a failed
> manufacturer it obviously hasn’t much of a future, leaving Alstom’s APS as
> the last offering for the hand wringers and pearl clutchers agitated about
> the non-problem of overhead wires.
>
> Batteries are going to be problematic if lithium-ion is the preferred
> technology as supply of newly mined lithium will be exceeded by demand,
> even with full recycling of existing lithium batteries, so their use is
> likely to be limited to where they are needed rather than just desired for
> trivial and redundant usage, like replacing a proper tramway or trolleybus
> electrification with wires. With shortages, the long term cost of batteries
> will rapidly exceed the initial cost imposed by the installation of
> overhead wiring, and given that APS maintenance is costlier than OHW
> maintenance it has a long term cost disadvantage as well, so eventually it
> could become redundant as cost and obsolescence take a toll on it.
>
> Tony
>
> On 21 Aug 2021, at 12:31 am, TP histor...@...> wrote:
>
> Reading the new issue of TAUT, I see that that the Chinese city of Zhuhai
> has run into a spot of bother with its new tramway which it is now
> considering closing. The Chinese, during their modern light rail revival of
> recent years, have taken out licences to manufacture a number of European
> tram models, no doubt with view to evaluating which are best, then to
> ultimately pinch and copy the designs and manufacture them themselves.
>
> One of these licences, to my surprise, was from the notorious Italian,
> Ansaldo Breda, at that time in its death throes. Included in the deal was a
> ground power system similar to Alstom's APS. Breda, as many will know, had
> quite a reputation in the industry for its quality and reliability issues
> and was basically an ongoing bad joke. However, the company obviously had
> considerable commercial acumen and kept on winning orders, while the
> unlucky customers, such as Boston and Manchester, than had to keep them
> going at much expense. Many ended up giving up and disposing of them well
> before the normal tram lifecycle was up.
>
> I've been quietly watching progress in Zhuhai for a few years and noted
> that they were having a lot of protracted difficulty getting it all going
> reliably. According to TAUT, a combination of (ahem) "technical issues",
> rising costs and low patronage has forced a rethink about whether to repair
> (including the option of replacing the ground power system with overhead
> wires) or simply abandon the system. Only 2/3 of the trams are in running
> condition. Another similar line with the same Breda technology in Beijing
> has suffered similar issues, including the ballooning maintenance costs.
> Not to worry though, the Italians made their money and ran.
>
> One day we'll look back at this caricature of a tram manufacturer and
> laugh - and be grateful that no Australian system ever fell for them, even
> though I recall Breda being promoted as one of the "great" manufacturers by
> some of the local light rail advocates. All that glitters is not gold.
>
> Tony P
>
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