Continuous contact rail transitions through crossovers at marta

摘要

With commencement of service on the Proctor-Creek Branch on the MARTA East-West Line a more effective routing needed to be affirmed for the shuttle operation. The scheduled turn-back operation was being performed at Candler Park thereby adding additional time and mileage to the route. Examination of the alternatives determined the most effcient routing would be to turn-back at Martin Luther King (MLK) Crossover, much closer to the downtown intersection of Five Points. During the East-West Line normal consist operation unimpeded travel through the MLK Crossover was assured due in part to the quantity of current collector shoes through the train length involved with the procedure. The use of two-car consists however presented the possibility of all current collector shoes losing contact (gapping) with the standard contact rail arrangement. The avoldance of gapping was dependent solely upon maintaining speed through the crossover to bridge the gaps in the contact rail.