Bordeaux trams run without overhead wires.

Ground-level power supply (also known as surface current collection) is a modern method of third-rail electrical pick-up for street trams. Image File history File links en: from French Wikipedia, GNU Date : May 28, 2004, about 12:00 pm Source : Personal photo by archeos Description : Tram with switched ground-level power in Bordeaux, line B, Hôtel de ville station. ... Image File history File links en: from French Wikipedia, GNU Date : May 28, 2004, about 12:00 pm Source : Personal photo by archeos Description : Tram with switched ground-level power in Bordeaux, line B, Hôtel de ville station. ... Third rail at the West Falls Church Metro stop in the Washington, D.C. area, electrified to 750 volts. ... Jump to: navigation, search A modern tram in the Töölö district of Helsinki, Finland Volkswagen Cargo-Tram in Dresden. ...

It is used, often for aesthetic reasons, as an alternative to overhead lines. It is not to be confused with the conduit current collection system which was used in Washington and parts of London, which simply buried a conventional third rail in an underground conduit. An electric multiple unit pulling into Tile Hill station; Coventry, England. ... A conduit car was an electric streetcar (tram) that drew power from an underground third rail, rather than from overhead wire, a wayside energized rail, or an on-board battery. ... State nickname: The Evergreen State Other U.S. States Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Governor Christine Gregoire (D) Senators Patty Murray (D) Maria Cantwell (D) Official languages None Area 184,824 km² (18th)  - Land 172,587 km²  - Water 12,237 km² (6. ... Jump to: navigation, search The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, which contains Big Ben London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...

Unlike the track-side third rail used by most metro trains and some mainline railways, the power-supply rail used by this system does not pose a danger to people or (other) animals, and so can be used even in pedestrian areas and city streets. Third rail at the West Falls Church Metro stop in the Washington, D.C. area, electrified to 750 volts. ... Metro and Subway redirect here. ...

Ground-level power supply uses a third rail placed between the other two rails which is electrically divided into 8 metre segments with neutral sections between. Each tram is equipped with two power collection skates, next to which are antennae that send radio signals to energise the powered rail segments as the tram passes over them. At any one time no more than two consecutive powered rail segments under the trams should actually be "alive".

Modern ground-level current collection was pioneered by the recent Bordeaux tramway. The public had assumed that the new system would use a traditional conduit system, like that of the Bordeaux trams which ran prior to 1958, and objected when they learned that it was not considered safe, and that overhead wires were to be used instead. Facing complaints both from the public and the French Ministry of Culture, planners developed the new system known as alimentation par sol (APS) as a modern way to duplicate the appearance of the conduit system. The system's Citadis trams still carry pantographs, and switch to conventional electric wires in outlying areas. Jump to: navigation, search For the wine, see Bordeaux Wine City motto: Lilia sola regunt lunam undas castra leonem. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search A Citadis tram in Melbourne, Australia The Citadis is a low-floor tram built by Alstom in La Rochelle, France, currently in use around the world, in (among others), the Paris region, Lyon, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Orléans, Rotterdam, Dublin (see Luas), Melbourne (see Trams in Melbourne... The Z-shaped pantograph of the electrical pickup on German light railway. ...

In all there is 12km of APS powered tramway on a network of 3 tramlines of 21.3km total length (but expected to be 40km by 2007). Sources suggest that the APS system adds about 100,000 euro to the cost of the trams whilst the fixed infrastructure is about 300% more expensive than overhead wires.

Before use in Bordeaux the APS system was tested (and proven viable) on a short section of reserved track tramway in the French city of Marseilles. Nevertheless Bordeaux has experienced some problems with the system being so temperamental that at one stage the local Mayor issued an ultimatum that if reliability could not be guaranteed then the APS would have to be replaced with overhead wires. Although things have improved in October 2005 it was announced that 1km of APS equipped tramway is to be converted to overhead wires. Marseilles redirects here. ...

Problems have been described as including issues with water logging when the water does not disperse / flow away quickly enough after heavy rains.

External links

• Tram Power - A New Method (LRTA)
• Bordeaux: Fronting the French tramway revolution (LRTA)