Renovation of medium capacity transit system traction electronics at Taipei Rapid Transit Systems

In this paper we present the Taipei Rapid Transit System program to replace the original DC motor drive of the medium capacity transit system trains with modern IGBT circuitry. The medium capacity transit system fleet employed traction power circuit designed in the 1980s, which soon suffered from high failure rate long before midlife overhaul. With modern power electronics technology, we replace the cumbersome drive circuitry for current-controlled power transistors by simple and straightforward gate drive circuit for voltage-controlled IGBTs. Also a large number of discrete components found on the original board are replaced by modules and ICs, improving service reliability and life expectancy