Italy's Ansaldo STS has unveiled its new Tramwave ground-level power supply system for light rail vehicles (LRV) at World Congress and Exhibition of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) in Vienna, Austria, June 7–11 2009.
The new Tramwave system supplies power through a ground-level contact line which will be activated only when the LRV passes over the track.
The system was designed for Ansaldobreda's Sirio trams but can be used on different designs of LRV, regardless of supplier and can be retro-fitted to existing fleets.
The system will reduce the visual impact of catenary systems in sensitive locations and return current to the system by eliminating the effect of stray currents returned to the running rails.
