Users
Distributed power is used in the United States and Canada, China, Australia (Queensland, the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and in the southwest of Western Australia), Brazil, Germany, and South Africa. It is also (or has been) in regular unit-train operation in India, Mauritania, and Mexico, and almost made it into operation in both pre- and post-revolutionary Iran.
In the south of Western Australia, Locotrol is used in the 'top-and-tail' configuration rather than specifically for long-train operation. With the recent advent of electronically controlled pneumatic brakes (ECP)—either hard-wired or radio-controlled—and integrated electronics for locomotive control and engineer's cab display systems, DP can now be provided via the ECP brake communication media, and other manufacturers are able to provide this capability.
A recent DP system from Wabtec, called PowerLink (which can be either wired or wireless) is in use in Queensland on narrow-gauge coal trains and in the south of Western Australia on standard-gauge iron ore trains.
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