Shore Supplies

Emeg has been designing, installing and maintaining Shore Supply systems for over 20 years and has numerous reference sites.

The reason Shore Supply systems are required in the first instance is that when there is a requirement to stable diesel trains overnight at a depot for servicing, then once the train has been serviced and has been through the carriage washing machine it has to be stabled in the sidings to enable the depots cleaning staff to clean the inside of the train. To enable the cleaning staff to clean the train then as this activity is carried out at night and as it is carried out throughout winter the internal train lighting and heating has to operate and to do this the trains diesel engine would have to run to power the integral electric generator. As depots are generally located within the vicinity of housing then it is not acceptable to have train engines running through the night due to noise and pollution concerns and so an alternative source of power is required to power the trains internal electrical circuits. The only alternative is to provide a Shore Supply system which plugs directly into the train and powers the trains internal electrical circuits without the need to run the trains engine.

As the Shore Supply system is based on an incoming IT electrical power source a new transformer is provided. Although there are several different types of Shore Supply system the most common is a 400V system and for this a suitably sized 11,000 to 400V IT transformer is provided, usually in a new HV switch room exclusively to serve the new Shore Supplies.

Typical Emeg Shore Supply IT Transformer

The IT transformer would feed a 400V Shore Supply panel which would comprise: –

1no. Incoming ACB suitable rated and a number of suitable rated ACB shore supply outgoing ways Manufactured to Network Rail Line Standard (NR/L2/RMVP/XXX Issue 3 and NR/PS/ELP/ 00022 issue 2 Feb 2006) and comprising of: –

a) One incoming section with withdrawable pattern 3 pole ACB, a set of instrumentation and protection equipment all as per Network Rail Line Standard.

b) A number of withdrawable pattern ACB outgoing shore supply 3 pole outgoing ways, suitably rated with a maximum breaking capacity of 35kA along with 3 sets of protection and control equipment as per Network Rail Line Standard.

For each individual Shore Supply point there would be one Lineside Pillar, one Ground Box, and one Plug and Lead.

For the more usual 400V Shore Supply systems each Lineside Pillar would be manufactured from stainless steel and would be equipped (as standard) with manual insulation resistance test switch and analogue 1000V insulation meter.

The Ground Box or Trifurcating Box would be manufactured from stainless steel and would generally be recessed into the apron and fitted with a non-slip cover. Into the box would three single core flexible cables are provided and on the other end a plug is provided that is compatible with the train, usually the plugs are LPA.

Emeg has provided many different types of Shore Supply system, 400V, 650V etc and recently Emeg has developed a Shore Supply changeover system that enables the depot to power to totally different trains from the same Lineside Pillar.

Shore Supplies Case Studies

Neville Hill Depot

The project consisted of the removal & replacement of electrical distribution equipment & cabling relating to the existing 850V Shore Supply installation