How do trams work?
Hop aboard and discover how these green vehicles stay on track
The first trams were powered by horse and then
steam, but the systems we have today are driven by
electricity. Each tramcar has a long pole on its roof
called a pantograph, which uses a spring-loaded
device to keep contact with an overhead wire
called a catenary, running above the track.
An electric current passing through the wire is flown down the pantograph and to the tram’s motors, which propel the wheels to keep it moving. To regulate the speed of the vehicle, the driver simply changes the amount of electricity that reaches the motors, increasing it to go faster, and decreasing it to go slower. After flowing through the motors, the electricity is carried through the wheels to the rails of the track, where it flows back to the main power supply to close the electric circuit. If any part of the circuit breaks, such as if the pantograph loses contact with the catenary wire or the wheels come off of the track, the flow of electricity will halt and so will the tram.
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