Electric traction. A review of progress

The progress review of electric traction in June 1956 noted the growing development of the industrial-frequency single-phase a.c. system. At that time, its experimental stages were over and the system was established in Northern France. In March 1956, the British Transport Commission decided to adopt this system as standard for their 15-year railway modernization plan. The present survey refers briefly to some of the major electrification work recently completed or in progress throughout the world, and notes that the promised development of the industrial-frequency system is being fulfilled and that this system continues to offer more prospect of improvement than do the older systems of railway electrification. A feature of the period has been the remarkable progress in the design of rectifying equipment, which has facilitated the rapid development of multi-system locomotives and rail coaches capable of working over a number of different d.c. or a.c. electrical systems.