The course aims to provide appropriate tools for the design of the electrification of a mass transit system (passenger and freight), both rail and road. Downstream from the treatment of the main electrical systems used for vehicles equipped with electric motors fed by an internal and external (traction line) energy source, the student is required to simulate rail vehicle operating conditions. Subsequently, having dealt with the main rail electrification systems, the student must then design a railway electrification of a predefined track referring to the simulation described above.

The module aims to illustrate the basic principles of electrification of a mass transit line (passenger and freight) both by rail and road. Focus is on: the main characteristics of the railway superstructure and traction lines; the structure of primary lines and interconnections in AT / MT with electrical substations, the main components of the substations’ power supply to the contact lines and the structure of the latter, the protection and control system both electrified in d.c. and a.c. The main causes of interference and the measures to be implemented are analyzed with a view to their solution. The module ends with some mention of the feasibility of railway electrification.