[Melb] Will new trams draw too much current?

[David McLoughlin <davemcl*PISSOFFSPAMMERS*@iprolink.co.nzzzzz>]

It occurs to me that the new Citadis and Combino trams on order for
Melbourne are power hogs because of their length and weight. Many of the
cities in Europe using trams of this type use 750 vDC rather than
Melbourne's 600v and use a pair of overhead wires (close together -- you
have to look closely to realise it is a twin set) to carry enough
current. The Sydney system which uses similar trams (Variotrams) has
750v and the double wires for this very reason.

Do Melbourne's substations have the capacity to cope with large numbers
of these trams or will they draw so much power that every tram in sight
slows to a crawl?

It would not really be funny, but nor would it surprise me, if nobody in
the halls of power at the tram companies has thought of this.

The Citadises will run on the 109 Port Melbourne-Mont Albert line soon
to be extended to Box Hill. The current out at Mont Albert is fairly
shaky now, it is so far from the substation at Kew. Will a new
substation be built for the extension?

David McLoughlin
Auckland New Zealand