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Transit Systems
Third Rail
Infrastructure A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a
railway train, through a continuous rigid conductor
Rolling Stock placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track.
It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit
Construction system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully
or almost fully segregated from the outside
Electrification environment. In most cases, third rail systems supply
direct current electricity.
Signaling & Telecom The third-rail system of electrification is unrelated to
the third rail used in dual-gauge railways.
Safety & Disaster
Third rail systems are a means of providing electric
Others traction power to railway trains, and they use an
additional rail (called a “conductor rail”) for the
purpose. On most systems, the conductor rail is placed
on the sleeper ends outside the running rails, but in
some cases a central conductor rail is used. The
conductor rail is supported on ceramic insulators or
insulated brackets, typically at intervals of 10 feet (3
metres) or so.

The trains have metal contact blocks called “shoes”

which make contact with the conductor rail. The
traction current is returned to the generating station
through the running rails. The conductor rail is usually
made of high conductivity steel, and the running rails
have to be electrically connected using wire bonds or
other devices, to minimize resistance in the electric
circuit.
The conductor rails have to be interrupted at level
crossings and at crossovers, and ramps are provided at
the ends of the sections to give a smooth transition to
the train shoes.

There is considerable diversity about the contact

position between the train and the rail; some of the
earliest systems used top contact, but developments
used side or bottom contact, which enabled the
conductor rail to be covered, protecting track workers
from accidental contact and protecting the conductor
rail from snow and leaf fall.

Benefits and disadvantages of third-rail systems

Electric traction systems (where electric power is

generated at a remote power station and transmitted to
the trains) are considerably more cost-effective than
diesel or steam units, where the power unit is carried
on the train. This advantage is especially marked in
urban and rapid transit systems with a high traffic
density.
So far as first cost is concerned, third-rail systems are
relatively cheap to install, compared to overhead wire
contact systems, as no structures for carrying the
overhead contact wires are required, and there is no
need to reconstruct overbridges to provide clearances.
There is much less visual intrusion on the environment.
However as third rail systems present the hazard of
electric shock, higher system voltages (above 1500 v)
are not considered safe. Very high currents are
therefore used, resulting in considerable power loss in
the system, and requiring relatively closely spaced feed
points (sub-stations).
The presence of an electrified rail also makes it
extremely dangerous for a person to fall into the tracks.
This, however, can be avoided using platform screen
doors or the risk minimized by ensuring that the
conductor rail is on the side of the track away from the
platform.
Furthermore, third rail systems must either be fully
grade-separated, or, if they operate at-grade, they must
implement some kind of mechanism to effectively stop
pedestrians from walking onto the tracks at grade
crossings.
Third rail systems using top contact are prone to
accumulations of snow, and ice formed from refrozen
snow, and this can interrupt operations. Some systems
operate dedicated de-icing trains to deposit an oily fluid
on the conductor rail to prevent the build-up.
Because of the gaps in the conductor rail (at level
crossings and crossovers) it is possible for a train to
stop in a position where all of its shoes are in gaps, so
that no traction power is available. The train is said to
be “gapped”. In these circumstances a following train is
brought up behind the stranded train to push it on to
the conductor rail or a jumper cable is used to supply
enough power to the train to get one of its contact
shoes back on the third rail. On some systems this
prevents the running of very short trains (which have
fewer shoes).

Technical aspects

The third rail is usually located outside the two running

rails, but occasionally between them. The electricity is
transmitted to the train by means of a sliding shoe,
which is held in contact with the rail. On many systems
an insulating cover is provided above the third rail to
protect employees working near the track; sometimes
the shoe is designed to contact the side (called side
running) or bottom (called bottom running) of the third
rail, allowing the protective cover to be mounted
directly to its top surface. When the shoe slides on top,
it is referred to as top running. When the shoe slides on
the bottom it is not affected by the build-up of snow or
leaves.

There are several ways of attaching the stainless steel

to the aluminium. The oldest is a co-extruded method,
where the stainless steel is extruded with the
aluminium. This method has suffered, in isolated
cases, from de-lamination (where the stainless steel
separates from the aluminium); this is said to have
been eliminated in the latest co-extruded rails. A
second method is an aluminium core, upon which two
stainless steel sections are fitted as a cap and linear
welded along the centre line of the rail. Because
aluminium has a higher coefficient of thermal
expansion than steel, the aluminium and steel must be
positively locked to provide a good current collection
interface. A third method rivets aluminum bus strips to
the web of the steel rail. The photo below-right depicts
such a rail.

Technical advances

The introduction of supercapacitors has the potential

to lower the cost for trains running on third rail and
overhead wires. Kinetic energy generated while braking
is stored in supercapacitors on board the vehicle. This
energy is then used when accelerating. This allows the
supercapacitors to reduce current draw through the
electrical pickup during acceleration, putting less
stress on the electrical grid. Claimed peak energy
reduction is around 30%.
 a. Steel Contact Rail
Steel contact rail is the rail that carries power for
electric rail cars through the tunnel and is placed
parallel to the other two standard rails.
b. Contact Rail Insulators
Contact rail insulators are made either of porcelain
or fiberglass and are to be installed at each
supporting bracket location.
c. Protection Board
Protection boards are placed above the steel
contact rail to “protect” personnel from making
direct contact with this rail. These boards are
typically made of fiberglass or timber.
d. Protection Board Brackets
Protection board brackets are mounted on either
timber ties or concrete ties/base and are used to
support the protection board at a distance above
the steel contact rail.
e. Third Rail Insulated Anchor Arms
Third rail insulated anchor arms are located at the
midpoint of each long section, with a maximum
length for any section limited to 1.6 km (1 mile).

Sources: wikipedia.org, railway-technical.com and

fhwa.dot.gov

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