Conduit current collection

When electric street railways became ubiquitous, conduits were only used in those cities that did not permit overhead wires, including London, Paris, Berlin, Marseilles, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Manhattan, and Washington.

For decades, "catenary-free" systems such as conduit current collection were not reintroduced because they didn't meet modern safety standards.

[8][9] The French government reports no electrocutions or electrification accidents on any tramway in France from as early as 2003[10] until as recently as December 31, 2021.

The conduit was replaced with overhead electrification, as sand and saltwater entered the it and caused breakdowns, and there was a problem with voltage drop.

However the line survives to this day as part of the Blackpool tramway, and some sections of track still had the conduit slot visible until refurbishment in 2012.

Car 4 of the original conduit line also still survives, and is preserved at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire.

The conduit allowed them to run to Queens Plaza terminus without need for removing the plough and raising the poles.

[14] In the centre of Brussels some tram lines were fitted with conduits, the last ones being converted to overhead operation during World War II.

The current collector "plow" was mounted underneath the car on a fitting just forward of the rear truck on PCC streetcars.

In the UK, London had a hybrid network of double-deck trams: overhead collection was used in the outer sections and conduit in the centre.

The last tram was withdrawn in June 1952 and virtually all the tracks had been removed by the 1970s, although a short section can still be seen at the entrance to the former Kingsway Tramway Subway.