Acumulador de Carga Rápida (ACR) () is a battery electric

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

system marketed by

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, literally "Construction and Other Railway Services") is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidia ...

(CAF) of Spain. Trams equipped with ACR are fast-charged while at

stops Stop may refer to: Places *Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck dri ...

; elsewhere they require no

overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

, which is desirable for reasons of safety, reliability, cost, and aesthetics. It also allows

regenerative braking Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object by converting its kinetic energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed. In this mechanism, the electric traction mo ...

where

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...

electrification systems cannot return (much) energy to the

grid Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to: Common usage * Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road * Grid reference, used to define a location on a map Arts, entertainment, and media * News g ...

Operation

ACR-equipped trams are powered between stops by discharging a rooftop

supercapacitor A supercapacitor (SC), also called an ultracapacitor, is a high-capacity capacitor, with a capacitance value much higher than other capacitors but with lower voltage limits. It bridges the gap between electrolytic capacitors and rechargeable ba ...

battery, weighing around , which gives a range of around . The battery is partially recharged between stops by regenerative braking; at stops, it is completely recharged in around thirty seconds by current drawn via

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

from a short section of overhead line.

Marketing

CAF offers ACR as an option on its

Urbos 3 The CAF Urbos is a family of trams, streetcars, and light rail vehicles built by CAF. The Basque manufacturer CAF previously manufactured locomotives, passenger cars, regional, and underground trains. In 1993, CAF started building trams for Metr ...

tram; for retrofitting on trams built by CAF or other manufacturers; and for

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

and

metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...

tram systems. ACR’s most direct competitor is the

ground-level power supply Ground-level power supply, also known as surface current collection or, in French, ''alimentation par le sol'' ("feeding via the ground"), is a concept and group of technologies whereby electric vehicles collect electric power at ground level fro ...

(APS) marketed by

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

; CAF differentiates ACR against APS through its support of regenerative braking. CAF claims that ACR could be useful in

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

systems for the same reason.

Installations

Since Seville’s MetroCentro tramway opened in 2007, sections of its overhead line around the

Seville Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See ( es, Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along ...

had been dismantled annually to allow

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

processions to pass safely. ACR’s first commercial installation was aboard Urbos trams supplied to MetroCentro in 2011, allowing the permanent removal of overhead lines around the cathedral. Line 1 of the Tranvía de Zaragoza has also used ACR since its second construction phase was completed in 2013. The use of ACR avoided the installation of overhead lines in the city’s historic centre. ACR was included in the

Newcastle Light Rail The Newcastle Light Rail is a light rail system in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, running from Newcastle Interchange through the central business district to Pacific Park. Major construction commenced in September 2017 and the line was ...

in Australia and Luxembourg's new tram system.{{Cite web, url=https://www.aurecongroup.com/projects/transport/newcastle-light-rail, title = Newcastle Light Rail, Australia | Aurecon

References

Battery electric vehicles Tram transport in Spain

Operation

Marketing

Installations

See also

References