Re: L2 Randwick Line and L3 Kingsford Line partial closure due to emergency repairs

Matthew Geier
Monday, October 21, 2024 9:29 AM

There are 3 sorts of APS failures. The most common (a blown 'power box') doesn't stop services (until they schedule replacement) as the trams use traction batteries to get over the dead spot.

Some of the dead sections have been dead for months, it seems Alstom can't keep the supply of spares matching the failure rates.

Note replacing those power boxes requires a shutdown of the line AND closure to all traffic of the street, as the equipment chambers are under the road with access hatches in the middle of the road. I suspect the safety rules also mean the APS sub needs to be locked out before anyone enters one of those equipment chambers.

Most of the full unscheduled shutdowns appear to be mostly Ausgrid issues - the APS section is fed from a SINGLE sub and it seems that sub doesn't have a redundant feed. If the Ausgrid side trips for any reason, it halts services as unlike the overhead sections, they can't cross-feed from an adjacent section. The additional safety systems on the substation due to it feeding a ground-level 3rd rail may also make it more prone to nuisance tripping.

There has also been a failure of one of the in-road feeders that took days to locate due to a wiring error (What was in the ground didn't match the drawings!) It appears the APS rail is feed by dual feed lines, with each conductor section fed from the alternative line from its neighbour. So guess in theory you could have 2 subs feeding it, and if one fails, only every alternate APS segment would be dead. I wonder if the traction batteries would cope with that?

Someone mentioned Tours - I was there 2 weeks ago. While the trams do have traction batteries, the APS system is continuous through the city centre, there is no intentional battery running.

Orleans also has APS, there was one point they ran on battery - there was a steel plate over the APS rail - covering some sort of damage in the 4ft. The driver didn't select anything, the tram itself detected the absence of APS and the 'battery mode' light lit up as it crossed the damaged section.

Alsom is promoting battery/APS charging at stops, I'm not sure if anyone has taken the bait yet. CAF have such a system installed and running in Luxembourg.

On Mon, 21 Oct 2024 at 09:38, 'Richard Youl' via TramsDownUnder <[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks Brian. It would still be nice to see some pics of the work. I was hoping for a shutdown last time I was in Sydney, but somehow it behaved itself.

Richard

On 21 Oct 2024, at 4:26 PM, 'Brian Blunt' via TramsDownUnder <[email protected]> wrote:

There have been a couple of closures of the APS section recently “due to power supply repairs”.

Brian
[email protected]

On 21 Oct 2024, at 17:18, 'Richard Youl' via TramsDownUnder <[email protected]> wrote:

While the cause of these never-ending stoppages is very likely the APS, it’s a pity that some Sydneysider could not forego a bit of sleep and go and check it out with camera to show just what they are doing. The cause could be something else quite different, although that is unlikely to be the case.

Richard

On 21 Oct 2024, at 11:24 AM, 'Geoff Olsen' via TramsDownUnder <[email protected]> wrote:

APS strikes again? What could possibly go wrong, go wrong, go wrong………

From: 'Greg Sutherland' via TramsDownUnder [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, 21 October 2024 12:05 PM
To: TramsDownUnder
Subject: [TramsDownUnder] L2 Randwick Line and L3 Kingsford Line partial closure due to emergency repairs

https://transportnsw.info/alerts/details#/ems-40478

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