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A traction network or traction power network is an electricity grid for the supply of electrified rail networks. The installation of a separate traction network generally is done only if the railway in question uses alternating current (AC) with a frequency lower than that of the national grid, such as in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Alternatively, the three-phase alternating current of the power grid can be converted in substations by rotary transformers or static inverters into the voltage and type of current required by the trains. For railways which run on direct current (DC), this method is always used, as well as for railways which run on single-phase AC of decreased frequency, as in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Norway and Sweden. In these areas there are no traction current networks.