There is a wide variety of electric traction systems around the world, which have been built according to the type of railway, its location and the technology available at the time of the installation. Many installations seen today were first built up to 100 years ago, some when electric traction was barely out its diapers, so to speak, and this has had a great influence on what is seen today.
In the last 20 years there has been a gigantic acceleration in railway traction development. This has run in parallel with the development of power electronics and microprocessors. What have been the accepted norms for the industry for, sometimes, 80 years, have suddenly been thrown out and replaced by fundamental changes in design, manufacture and operation. Many of these developments are highly technical and complex, the details of which are therefore beyond the scope of these texts.
Because these changes have been so rapid, there are still plenty of examples of the original technology around and in regular use, so I have covered these in my articles. This is useful, since it helps the reader to get to grips with the modern stuff.
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