Modeling Electrified Transit Systems

This paper introduces a new modeling method for light rail traction to allow a detailed drive model to be incorporated into the tram system, thereby permitting detailed energy flows to be studied. Using movement data as an input, this method is shown to be highly suitable for cases employing real measured telemetry to compare the efficiencies of light-rail vehicle designs. Data from the Blackpool tram network in the United Kingdom are used throughout.