traction circuit for a rail vehicle

The invention provides a traction system for a railway vehicle comprising a plurality of first elementary current converter systems (6.1 .. 6. n) which are connected in series via at least one coil (4) between a system catenary / pantograph (1) and a wheel / rail system (2), each first elementary power converter system being formed of at least one four-quadrant rectifier primary side, a voltage intermediate circuit the primary side of the least one primary-side inverter. secondary side of the second power converter systems (17 1 ... 17 m) connected in parallel to form a DC voltage intermediate circuit (15) common. The DC voltage intermediate circuit (15) the secondary side is connected to a starting circuit (23) for launching the traction circuit. The supply network side circuit elements, including control devices for the rectifier semiconductor switches at four quadrants primary side takes place via the intermediate circuit DC voltage primary side or from the alternating voltages of the inverters concerned primary side or from the AC voltages on the primary side of the transformer concerned.