An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive , as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages. An EMU is usually formed of two or more semi-permanently coupled carriages, but electrically powered single-unit railcars are also generally classed as EMUs. The great majority of EMUs are passenger trains, but versions also exist for carrying mail.
44-660: The Siemens Inspiro is a family of electric multiple unit trains designed and manufactured by Siemens Mobility since 2012 for metro systems. The product was launched on 19 September 2012 at the InnoTrans in Berlin. The first Inspiro entered service with Warsaw Metro on 6 October 2013. In October 2009, Siemens Mobility started development on a new subway product family. It collaborated with DesignworksUSA on design aspects. The company based its design on Modular Metro vehicles previously produced for Vienna, Oslo and Nuremberg. Siemens
88-416: A multiple unit system of electric railway operation, which accelerated the development of electric traction . In the multiple-unit system, each car of the train carries electric traction motors. By means of relays energized by train-line wires, the engineer (or motorman ) commands all of the traction motors in the train to act together. For lighter trains there is no need for locomotives , so every car in
132-548: A greatly improved mounting for streetcar motors and better gear designs, and proved that regenerative braking was practical. After testing his trolley system in late 1887 and early 1888, Sprague installed the first successful large electric street railway system – the Richmond Union Passenger Railway in Richmond, Virginia , which began passenger operation on February 2, 1888. Long a transportation obstacle,
176-518: A major expansion of London's Underground in 1901. Sprague's system of electric supply was a great advantage in relation to the first bipolar U-tube overhead lines, in everyday use since 1883 on the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram . While electrifying the streetcars of Richmond, the increased passenger capacity and speed gave Sprague the notion that similar results could be achieved in vertical transportation — electric elevators . He saw that increasing
220-445: A prodigious capacity for work ... And once having made up his mind on a new invention or a new line of work, he was tireless and always striving for improvement. He had a brilliantly alert mind and was impatient of any half-way compromise. His interest in his work never ceased; only a few hours before the end, he asked to have a newly designed model of his latest invention brought to his bedside. Sprague died on October 25, 1934. He
264-604: A salary of $ 2,500, was neither happy with his salary nor his assignments. Sprague wanted to focus on motors, while motors bored Edison, who was consumed in making his incandescent lighting work. Edison sent Sprague to run the construction departments where Edison had built central power stations for his lighting systems in Sunbury, Pennsylvania , and Brockton, Massachusetts . Sprague did important work for Edison, including correcting Edison's system of mains and feeders for central station distribution. In 1884, he decided his interests in
308-541: A single power source and had signed up for conversion. By January 1889, Boston had its first electric streetcars – which would be the first in the Americas to go underground, some eight years later, as the Tremont Street Subway – and which had become so popular and noteworthy that poet Oliver Wendell Holmes composed a verse about the new trolley pole technology, and the sparking contact shoe at its apex: Within
352-439: A year, electric power had started to replace more costly horsecars in many cities. By 1889, 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague's equipment had been begun or planned on several continents. In 1890, Edison, who manufactured most of Sprague's equipment, bought him out , and Sprague turned his attention to electric elevators. However, he continued to be interested in the use of electricity for urban transportation and proposed
396-582: The Budd Metroliner . EMUs powered by fuel cells are under development. If successful, this would avoid the need for an overhead line or third rail . An example is Alstom ’s hydrogen -powered Coradia iLint . The term hydrail has been coined for hydrogen-powered rail vehicles. Many battery electric multiple units are in operation around the world, with the take up being strong. Many are bi-modal taking energy from onboard battery banks and line pickups such as overhead wires or third rail. In most cases
440-583: The Franklin Medal in 1921 and was posthumously awarded the John Fritz Gold Medal in 1935. Sprague was twice married, first to a Mary Keatinge, and thereafter to Harriet Chapman Jones. Frank and Mary had one son, Frank Desmond. Frank and Harriet had two sons and a daughter: Robert C. Sprague (also an inventor), Julian K. and Frances A. Remembering his father, Robert wrote in 1935: All through his life and up to his last day, Frank Sprague had
484-513: The Munich U-Bahn in November 2010 (Class C2.11) with second option of 22 units in 2019 (Class C2.12) and third option of 24 units in 2020 (Class C2.13), bringing the total number to 67. MVG has designated the trains as Class C2, differentiating them from C1, which wasn't based on Inspiro. The delivery began in 2012 with the last unit to be delivered in 2024. VAG ordered 21 four-carriage trains for
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#1732854946238528-525: The Nuremberg U-Bahn in 2015, designated as G1 , with the first entry into revenue service in 2020. Rapid KL - Kajang line in service 4-car trainsets configuration Warsaw Metro in service 6-car trainsets configuration Riyadh Metro upcoming 2-car and 4-car trainsets configuration for Line 1 and Line 2. Siemens was awarded a contract worth £1.5bn for 94 9-car sets based on the Inspiro to replace
572-686: The Paris Métro , in service from 1908 to 1983, are still referred to as les rames Sprague ("Sprague trainsets ") today. Sprague's engines were used as far afield as Sydney Harbour in Australia. A five-horsepower Lundell electric motor used at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard between 1900 and 1980 is now in the collection of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra . Sprague was awarded
616-605: The South Side Elevated Railroad (now part of the Chicago 'L' ) in 1897. In 1895, derived from his company's invention and production of direct current elevator control systems, Frank Sprague invented a multiple unit controller for electric train operation. This accelerated the construction of electric traction railways and trolley systems worldwide. Each car of the train has its own traction motors: by means of motor control relays in each car energized by train-line wires from
660-845: The United States Navy . During his ensuing naval service, he first served on the USS Richmond , then the USS Minnesota . While in Asia, Sprague wrote stories he filed for the Boston Herald . While his ship was in Newport, Rhode Island , in 1881, Sprague invented the inverted type of dynamo . After he was transferred to the USS Lancaster , the flagship of the European Squadron, he installed
704-500: The Westinghouse Company . Sprague's developments in electric traction let cities grow larger, while his development of the elevator permitted greater concentration in their commercial sections and increased the profitability of commercial buildings. Sprague's inventions made modern light rail and rapid transit systems possible, which today still function on the same principles. The iconic Sprague-Thomson rolling stock of
748-799: The Commission for Terminal Electrification of the New York Central Railroad , including the Grand Central Station in New York City , where he designed a system of automatic train control to ensure compliance with trackside signals. He founded the Sprague Safety Control & Signal Corporation to develop and build this system. Along with William J. Wilgus , he designed the Wilgus-Sprague bottom contact third rail system used by
792-605: The United States. Frank's son Robert C. Sprague would go on to found and lead the Sprague Electric Company as its president (1926–1953) and CEO (1953–1987). At its peak, Sprague Electric employed 12,000 people worldwide with plants in Scotland, France, Italy, and Japan, in addition to multiple locations in the United States, to become a leading manufacturer of capacitors and other electronic components. Sprague Electric
836-448: The ancillary equipment required per set) while allowing all cars to be powered, unlike a motor-trailer combination. Each car has only one control cab, located at the outer end of the pair, saving space and expense over a cab at both ends of each car. Disadvantages include a loss of operational flexibility, as trains must be multiples of two cars, and a failure on a single car could force removing both it and its partner from service. Some of
880-504: The batteries are charged via the electric pickup when operating on electric mode. EMUs, when compared with electric locomotives , offer: Electric locomotives, when compared to EMUs, offer: Frank J. Sprague Frank Julian Sprague (July 25, 1857 – October 25, 1934) was an American inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor , electric railways , and electric elevators . His contributions were especially important in promoting urban development by increasing
924-550: The capacity of elevator shafts would not only save passengers' time but would also increase the earnings of tall buildings, with height limited by the total floor space taken up in the shaftways by slow hydraulic-powered elevators. In 1892, Sprague founded the Sprague Electric Elevator Company. Working with Charles R. Pratt he developed the Sprague-Pratt Electric Elevator, the first of which
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#1732854946238968-521: The existing 1973 Stock used on the Piccadilly line of the London Underground . The first of the type is expected to enter service in 2025. There are also options for a total of 250 trains allowing replacement of all existing trains on the deep-level Central , Waterloo & City and Bakerloo lines. Electric multiple unit EMUs are popular on commuter, and suburban rail networks around
1012-513: The exploitation of electricity lay elsewhere, and he left Edison to found the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company. By 1886, Sprague's company had introduced two important inventions: a constant-speed, non-sparking motor with fixed brushes, and regenerative braking , a method of braking that uses the drive motor to return power to the main supply system. His motor was the first to maintain constant speed under varying load. It
1056-441: The extra equipment needed to transmit electric power to the train can be difficult. Multiple unit train control was first used in the 1890s. The Liverpool Overhead Railway opened in 1893 with two-car electric multiple units, controllers in cabs at both ends directly controlling the traction current to motors on both cars. The multiple unit traction control system was developed by Frank Sprague and first applied and tested on
1100-696: The first electric call-bell system on a United States Navy ship. Sprague took leave to attend the International Exposition of Electricity of 1881 in Paris and the Crystal Palace Exhibition in Sydenham , England, in 1882, where he was on the jury of awards for gas engines, dynamos and lamps. In 1883, Edward H. Johnson , a business associate of Thomas Edison , persuaded Sprague to resign his naval commission to work for Edison. Sprague, who began at
1144-399: The front car all of the traction motors in the train are controlled in unison. The cars that form a complete EMU set can usually be separated by function into four types: power car, motor car, driving car, and trailer car. Each car can have more than one function, such as a motor-driving car or power-driving car. On third rail systems, the outer vehicles usually carry the pick up shoes with
1188-722: The gold medal In Paris at the International Exposition of Electricity in 1889, the grand prize at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, the Elliott Cresson Medal in 1904, and the Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (now Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ), for "meritorious achievement in electrical science, engineering and arts as exemplified in his contributions thereto" in 1910. In addition, he received
1232-576: The hills of Richmond included grades of over 10%, and were an excellent proving ground for acceptance of his new technology in other cities, in contrast to the cable cars which climbed the steepest grades of Nob Hill in San Francisco at the time. By the summer of 1888, Henry M. Whitney of the West End Street Railway in Boston had witnessed the simultaneous startup of multiple streetcars on
1276-828: The more famous electric multiple units in the world are high-speed trains: the Italian Pendolino and Frecciarossa 1000 , Shinkansen in Japan, the China Railway High-speed in China, ICE 3 in Germany, and the British Rail class 395 Javelin. The retired New York–Washington Metroliner service, first operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad and later by Amtrak , also featured high-speed electric multiple-unit cars, known as
1320-624: The motor vehicles receiving the current via intra-unit connections . Many modern two-car EMU sets are set up as twin or "married pair" units. While both units in a married pair are typically driving motors, the ancillary equipment (air compressor and tanks, batteries and charging equipment, traction power and control equipment, etc.) are shared between the two cars in the set. Since neither car can operate without its "partner", such sets are permanently coupled and can only be split at maintenance facilities. Advantages of married pair units include weight and cost savings over single-unit cars (due to halving
1364-633: The occasion of his 75th birthday, are held at the Chapin Library, Williams College . In 1959, Harriet Sprague donated funds for the Sprague Building at the Shore Line Trolley Museum at East Haven, Connecticut , not far from Sprague's boyhood home in Milford. The museum is the oldest operating trolley museum in the United States and has one of the largest collections of trolley artifacts in
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1408-640: The older “Silver Arrows” (Type U). The first trains will be used on the U1 - U4 lines from 2023 and will be used automated on the U5 line from 2026. The Last cars operated 2030 (55th). 30 new metro 3-car trainsets have been ordered for the M3 line of the Sofia Metro to enter into service April 2020. The contract includes an option for 30 additional cars to extend these trains to 4 cars long. MVG has ordered first 21 six-carriage trains for
1452-466: The railroads leading into Grand Central Terminal. During World War I , Sprague served on the Naval Consulting Board. Then, in the 1920s, he devised a method for safely running two independent elevators, local and express, in a single shaft, to conserve floor space. He sold this system, along with systems for activating elevator car safety systems when acceleration or speed became too great, to
1496-491: The size cities could reasonably attain (through better transportation) and by allowing greater concentration of business in commercial sections (through use of electric elevators in skyscrapers ). He became known as the "father of electric traction". Demonstrating an aptitude for science and mathematics, Sprague secured an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1874 and, after graduation in 1878 and 2 years at sea, resigned to pursue his career in electrical engineering. Sprague
1540-561: The story of the role of the "father of electric traction" and the role of electricity in the growth of cities. In 2012, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum adopted a stray cat, naming it after Sprague: Frank the Trolley Cat. In 2017, Sprague was the subject of an episode on season 29 of American Experience , a documentary series that was broadcast on PBS television stations. Titled The Race Underground , it partly chronicled
1584-484: The train can generate revenue. Where locomotives are used, one person can control all of them. Sprague's first multiple unit order was from the South Side Elevated Railroad (the first of several elevated railways locally known as the "L" ) in Chicago, Illinois . This success was quickly followed by substantial multiple-unit contracts in Brooklyn, New York , and Boston, Massachusetts . From 1896 to 1900 Sprague served on
1628-459: The world due to their fast acceleration and pollution-free operation, and are used on most rapid-transit systems. Being quieter than diesel multiple units (DMUs) and locomotive -hauled trains, EMUs can operate later at night and more frequently without disturbing nearby residents. In addition, tunnel design for EMU trains is simpler as no provision is needed for exhausting fumes, although retrofitting existing limited-clearance tunnels to accommodate
1672-680: Was awarded a contract to supply 12 3-car driverless sets for the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport Line . Due to the higher overhead line voltage of 25 kV 50 Hz AC , these trains will be part of the Inspiro High Capacity (Inspiro HC) family. The first trains are expected to enter service in 2026. In September 2017, Wiener Linien ordered 34 new subway trains for the Vienna U-Bahn called Type X from Siemens Transportation Systems to replace
1716-605: Was born in Milford, Connecticut , in 1857 to David Cummings Sprague and Frances Julia King Sprague, a school teacher His mother died when he was ten, and was sent by his father to live with an aunt in New York. He attended Drury High School in North Adams, Massachusetts , and excelled in mathematics. After graduating high school, Sprague went to Springfield, Massachusetts , to take an entrance exam for West Point , but somehow unexpectedly
1760-575: Was buried with full U.S. Navy honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. His wife Harriet was interred with him after her death in 1969. After Sprague's death, Harriet turned over a substantial amount of material from his collection to the New York Public Library , where it remains today accessible to the public via the rare books division. Other papers, including six volumes of congratulatory letters and photographs presented to Sprague on
1804-457: Was eventually acquired by General Cable in 1979 and then Vishay Intertechnology in 1992. Frank and Harriet's grandson Peter Sprague, an entrepreneur, would become CEO of National Semiconductor (1965–1995). In 1999, grandsons, John L. Sprague and Peter Sprague cut the ribbon and started an 1884 Sprague motor at a new exhibit at the Shore Line Trolley Museum , where a permanent exhibit, "Frank J. Sprague: Inventor, Scientist, Engineer", tells
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1848-481: Was immediately popular and was endorsed by Edison as the only practical electric motor available. His regenerative braking system was important in the development of the electric train and the electric elevator. Sprague's inventions included several improvements to designs for systems of electric streetcars collecting electricity from overhead lines . He improved designs for a spring-loaded trolley pole that had been developed in 1885 by Charles Van Depoele , devised
1892-595: Was installed in the Postal Telegraph Building in 1894. The company developed floor control, automatic elevators, acceleration control of car safeties, and a number of freight elevators. The Sprague-Pratt elevator ran faster and with larger loads than hydraulic or steam elevators, and 584 elevators had been installed worldwide. Sprague sold his company to the Otis Elevator Company in 1895. Sprague's experience with electric elevators lead him to devise
1936-537: Was taking the four day entrance exam for the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland . He got the highest score (twelve others took the exam), and to go to the school he needed to borrow money. A local contractor and a bank loaned him four thousand dollars, and he travelled to Maryland. There, he graduated seventh (out of thirty-six) in the class of 1878. He was commissioned as an ensign in
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