Power factor correction in a 25 KV electrified railway

The Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) is a 34 km double-tracked and electrified railway carrying an average of 450000 passengers a day at 1989 level. After commissioning of the system in 1982, the power factor at the supply point, as measured by the ratio of integrated half-hour MW to integrated half hour MVA, was consistently and substantially below 0.85 which was the minimum value demanded by the power supply company. The authors show typical power factor and demand profiles, and present methods for the correction of such power factors