Tram/train Level Crossings
There are currently four level crossings where trams and trains cross each other: Burke Road, Glen Iris; Glenferrie Road, Kooyong; Glenhuntly Road, Glenhuntly; and Riversdale Road, Camberwell. To accommodate the differing voltages of the 600 volt tram and 1500 volt train systems each of these level crossings is fitted with an overhead square, which can isolate the section of overhead wiring above the crossing and apply the appropriate voltage. When the signal box adjacent to the crossing interlocks the gates for trains to pass through, 1500 volts is applied, while when the gates are up 600 volts is applied.
Historically many tram/train level crossings have operated in Melbourne, all but the aforementioned four have been grade separated, or the tramway or railway has been abandoned. The first were built during the cable tram systems operation, with much reluctance on behalf of the Victorian Railways. Many more were built after the emergence of electric trams in 1906, often causing disputes between tramway operators and the Victorian Railways.
Read more about this topic: Trams In Melbourne
Famous quotes containing the words train and/or level:
“Happy you poets who can be present and so present by a simple flicker of your genius, and not, like the clumsier race, have to lay a train and pile up faggots that may not after prove in the least combustible!”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
“Even a nine story pagoda must be built up level by level.”
—Chinese proverb.