Overhead line

Electric trains that collect their current from overhead lines use a device such as a pantograph, bow collector or trolley pole. It presses against the underside of the lowest overhead wire, the contact wire. Current collectors are electrically conductive and allow current to flow through to the train or tram and back to the feeder station through the steel wheels on one or both running rails. Non-electric locomotives (such as diesels) may pass along these tracks without affecting the overhead line, although there may be difficulties with overhead clearance. Alternative electrical power transmission schemes for trains include third rail, ground-level power supply, batteries and electromagnetic induction.

Lineworkers on a maintenance of way vehicle repairing overhead lines (Poland)

Overhead over a switch in Toronto: Two runners for pantographs flank the trolley pole frog.

To achieve good high-speed current collection, it is necessary to keep the contact wire geometry within defined limits. This is usually achieved by supporting the contact wire from a second wire known as the messenger wire (in the US & Canada) or catenary (in the UK). This wire approximates the natural path of a wire strung between two points, a catenary curve, thus the use of "catenary" to describe this wire or sometimes the whole system. This wire is attached to the contact wire at regular intervals by vertical wires known as "droppers" or "drop wires". It is supported regularly at structures, by a pulley, link or clamp. The whole system is then subjected to mechanical tension.

As the pantograph moves along under the contact wire, the carbon insert on top of the pantograph becomes worn with time. On straight track, the contact wire is zigzagged slightly to the left and right of the centre from each support to the next so that the insert wears evenly, thus preventing any notches. On curves, the "straight" wire between the supports causes the contact point to cross over the surface of the pantograph as the train travels around the curve. The movement of the contact wire across the head of the pantograph is called the "sweep".

The zigzagging of the overhead line is not required for trolley poles. For tramways, a contact wire without a messenger wire is used.

Depot areas tend to have only a single wire and are known as "simple equipment" or "trolley wire". When overhead line systems were first conceived, good current collection was possible only at low speeds, using a single wire. To enable higher speeds, two additional types of equipment were developed:

• Stitched equipment uses an additional wire at each support structure, terminated on either side of the messenger/catenary wire.
• Compound equipment uses a second support wire, known as the "auxiliary", between the messenger/catenary wire and the contact wire. Droppers support the auxiliary from the messenger wire, while additional droppers support the contact wire from the auxiliary. The auxiliary wire can be of a more conductive but less wear-resistant metal, increasing transmission efficiency.

Earlier dropper wires provided physical support of the contact wire without joining the catenary and contact wires electrically. Modern systems use current-carrying droppers, eliminating the need for separate wires.

The present transmission system originated about 100 years ago. A simpler system was proposed in the 1970s by the Pirelli Construction Company, consisting of a single wire embedded at each support for 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) of its length in a clipped, extruded aluminum beam with the wire contact face exposed. A somewhat higher tension than used before clipping the beam yielded a deflected profile for the wire that could be easily handled at 400 km/h (250 mph) by a pneumatic servo pantograph with only 3 g acceleration.

Parallel overhead lines

A switch in parallel overhead lines

Trolleybus wire switch

An electrical circuit requires at least two conductors. Trams and railways use the overhead line as one side of the circuit and the steel rails as the other side of the circuit. For a trolleybus or a trolleytruck, no rails are available for the return current, as the vehicles use rubber tyres on the road surface. Trolleybuses use a second parallel overhead line for the return, and two trolley poles, one contacting each overhead wire. (Pantographs are generally incompatible with parallel overhead lines.) The circuit is completed by using both wires. Parallel overhead wires are also used on the rare railways with three-phase AC railway electrification.

In the Soviet Union the following types of wires/cables were used.[2] For the contact wire, cold drawn solid copper was used to ensure good conductivity. The wire is not round but has grooves at the sides to allow the hangers to attach to it. Sizes were (in cross-sectional area) 85, 100, or 150 mm². To make the wire stronger, 0.04% tin might be added. The wire must resist the heat generated by arcing and thus such wires should never be spliced by thermal means.

The messenger (or catenary) wire needs to be both strong and have good conductivity. They used multi-strand wires (or cables) with 19 strands in each cable (or wire). Copper, aluminum, and/or steel were used for the strands. All the 19 strands could be of the same metal or some strands could be of steel for strength with the remaining strands of aluminum or copper for conductivity.[3] Another type looked like it had all copper wires but inside each wire was a steel core for strength. The steel strands were galvanized but for better corrosion protection they could be coated with an anti-corrosion substance.

In Slovenia, where 3 kV system is in use, standard sizes for contact wire are 100 and 150 mm². The catenary wire is made of copper or copper alloys of 70, 120 or 150 mm². The smaller cross sections are made of 19 strands, whereas the bigger has 37 strands. Two standard configurations for main lines consist of two contact wires of 100 mm² and one or two catenary wires of 120 mm², totaling 320 or 440 mm². Only one contact wire is often used for side tracks.[4]

Line tensioning in Germany

Catenary wires are kept in mechanical tension because the pantograph causes mechanical oscillations in the wire and the wave must travel faster than the train to avoid producing standing waves that would cause wire breakage. Tensioning the line makes waves travel faster, and also reduces sag from gravity.

For medium and high speeds, the wires are generally tensioned by weights or occasionally by hydraulic tensioners. Either method is known as "auto-tensioning" (AT) or "constant tension" and ensures that the tension is virtually independent of temperature. Tensions are typically between 9 and 20 kN (2,000 and 4,500 lbf) per wire. Where weights are used, they slide up and down on a rod or tube attached to the mast, to prevent them from swaying.

For low speeds and in tunnels where temperatures are constant, fixed termination (FT) equipment may be used, with the wires terminated directly on structures at each end of the overhead line. The tension is generally about 10 kN (2,200 lbf). This type of equipment sags in hot conditions and is taut in cold conditions.

With AT, the continuous length of the overhead line is limited due to the change in the height of the weights as the overhead line expands and contracts with temperature changes. This movement is proportional to the distance between anchors. Tension length has a maximum. For most 25 kV OHL equipment in the UK, the maximum tension length is 1,970 m (6,460 ft).[5]

An additional issue with AT equipment is that, if balance weights are attached to both ends, the whole tension length is free to move along the track. To avoid this a midpoint anchor (MPA), close to the centre of the tension length, restricts movement of the messenger/catenary wire by anchoring it; the contact wire and its suspension hangers can move only within the constraints of the MPA. MPAs are sometimes fixed to low bridges, or otherwise anchored to vertical catenary poles or portal catenary supports. A tension length can be seen as a fixed centre point, with the two half-tension lengths expanding and contracting with temperature.

Most systems include a brake to stop the wires from unravelling completely if a wire breaks or tension is lost. German systems usually use a single large tensioning pulley (basically a ratchet mechanism) with a toothed rim, mounted on an arm hinged to the mast. Normally the downward pull of the weights and the reactive upward pull of the tensioned wires lift the pulley so its teeth are well clear of a stop on the mast. The pulley can turn freely while the weights move up or down as the wires contract or expand. If tension is lost the pulley falls back toward the mast, and one of its teeth jams against the stop. This stops further rotation, limits the damage, and keeps the undamaged part of the wire intact until it can be repaired. Other systems use various braking mechanisms, usually with multiple smaller pulleys in a block and tackle arrangement.

Lines are divided into sections to limit the scope of an outage and to allow maintenance.

Section break

A section insulator at a section break in Amtrak's 12 kV catenary

To allow maintenance to the overhead line without having to turn off the entire system, the line is broken into electrically separated portions known as "sections". Sections often correspond with tension lengths. The transition from section to section is known as a "section break" and is set up so that the vehicle's pantograph is in continuous contact with one wire or the other.

For bow collectors and pantographs, this is done by having two contact wires run side by side over the length between 2 or 4 wire supports. A new one drops down and the old one rises up, allowing the pantograph to smoothly transfer from one to the other. The two wires do not touch (although the bow collector or pantograph is briefly in contact with both wires). In normal service, the two sections are electrically connected; depending on the system this might be an isolator, fixed contact or a Booster Transformer. The isolator allows the current to the section to be interrupted for maintenance.

On overhead wires designed for trolley poles, this is done by having a neutral section between the wires, requiring an insulator. The driver of the tram or trolleybus must temporarily reduce the power draw before the trolley pole passes through, to prevent arc damage to the insulator.

Pantograph-equipped locomotives must not run through a section break when one side is de-energized. The locomotive would become trapped, but as it passes the section break the pantograph briefly shorts the two catenary lines. If the opposite line is de-energized, this voltage transient may trip supply breakers. If the line is under maintenance, an injury may occur as the catenary is suddenly energized. Even if the catenary is properly grounded to protect the personnel, the arc generated across the pantograph can damage the pantograph, the catenary insulator or both.

Neutral section (phase break)

Neutral Section Indication Board used on railways in the UK. Six of these would be required at crossings

Sometimes on a larger electrified railway, tramway or trolleybus system, it is necessary to power different areas of track from different power grids, without guaranteeing synchronisation of the phases. Long lines may be connected to the country's national grid at various points and different phases. (Sometimes the sections are powered with different voltages or frequencies.) The grids may be synchronised on a normal basis, but events may interrupt synchronisation. This is not a problem for DC systems. AC systems have a particular safety implication in that the railway electrification system would act as a "Backdoor" connection between different parts, resulting in, amongst other things, a section of the grid de-energised for maintenance being re-energised from the railway substation creating danger.

For these reasons, Neutral sections are placed in the electrification between the sections fed from different points in a national grid, or different phases, or grids that are not synchronized. It is highly undesirable to connect synchronized grids. A simple section break is insufficient to guard against this as the pantograph briefly connects both sections.

In countries such as France, South Africa and the United Kingdom, a pair of permanent magnets beside the rails at either side of the neutral section operate a bogie-mounted transducer on the train which causes a large electrical circuit-breaker to open and close when the locomotive or the pantograph vehicle of a multiple unit passes over them.[6] In the United Kingdom equipment similar to Automatic Warning System (AWS) is used, but with pairs of magnets placed outside the running rails (as opposed to the AWS magnets placed midway between the rails). Lineside signs on the approach to the neutral section warn the driver to shut off traction power and coast through the dead section.

A neutral section or phase break consists of two insulated breaks back-to-back with a short section of line that belongs to neither grid. Some systems increase the level of safety by the midpoint of the neutral section being earthed. The presence of the earthed section in the middle is to ensure that should the transducer controlled apparatus fail, and the driver also fail to shut off power, the energy in the arc struck by the pantograph as it passes to the neutral section is conducted to earth, operating substation circuit breakers, rather than the arc either bridging the insulators into a section made dead for maintenance, a section fed from a different phase, or setting up a Backdoor connection between different parts of the country's national grid.

25 kV AC neutral zone in Romania

On the Pennsylvania Railroad, phase breaks were indicated by a position light signal face with all eight radial positions with lenses and no center light. When the phase break was active (the catenary sections out of phase), all lights were lit. The position light signal aspect was originally devised by the Pennsylvania Railroad and was continued by Amtrak and adopted by Metro North. Metal signs were hung from the catenary supports with the letters "PB" created by a pattern of drilled holes.

Gaps

A swing bridge near Meppel, the Netherlands. There is no overhead line on the bridge; the train coasts through with raised pantograph.

Occasionally gaps may be present in the overhead lines, when switching from one voltage to another or to provide clearance for ships at moveable bridges, as a cheaper alternative for moveable overhead power rails. Electric trains coast across the gaps. To prevent arcing, power must be switched off before reaching the gap and usually the pantograph would be lowered.

B&O's overhead third-rail system at Guilford Avenue in Baltimore, 1901, part of the Baltimore Belt Line. The central position of the overhead conductors was dictated by the many tunnels on the line: the ∩-shaped rails were located at the highest point in the roof to give the most clearance.[7]

Given limited clearance such as in tunnels, the overhead wire may be replaced by a rigid overhead rail. An early example was in the tunnels of the Baltimore Belt Line, where a Π section bar (fabricated from three strips of iron and mounted on wood) was used, with the brass contact running inside the groove.[7] When the overhead line was raised in the Simplon Tunnel to accommodate taller rolling stock, a rail was used. A rigid overhead rail may also be used in places where tensioning the wires is impractical, for example on moveable bridges.

In a movable bridge that uses a rigid overhead rail, there is a need to transition from the catenary wire system into an overhead conductor rail at the bridge portal (the last post before the movable bridge). For example, the power supply can be done through a catenary wire system near a swing bridge. The catenary wire typically comprises messenger wire (also called catenary wire) and a contact wire where it meets the pantograph. The messenger wire is terminated at the portal, while the contact wire runs into the overhead conductor rail profile at the transition end section before it is terminated at the portal. There is a gap between the overhead conductor rail at the transition end section and the overhead conductor rail that runs across the entire span of the swing bridge. The gap is required for the swing bridge to be opened and closed. To connect the conductor rails together when the bridge is closed, there is another conductor rail section called "rotary overlap" that is equipped with a motor. When the bridge is fully closed, the motor of the rotary overlap is operated to turn it from a tilted position into the horizontal position, connecting the conductor rails at the transition end section and the bridge together to supply power.[8]

Short overhead conductor rails are installed at tram stops as for the Combino Supra.[9]

Tram overhead wire (diagonal) crossing trolleybus wires (horizontal), photographed in Bahnhofplatz, Bern, Switzerland

Annotated version of the at left photo, highlighting components

  tram conductor

  trolley bus wires

  insulated trough

Trams draw their power from a single overhead wire at about 500 to 750 V. Trolleybuses draw from two overhead wires at a similar voltage, and at least one of the trolleybus wires must be insulated from tram wires. This is usually done by the trolleybus wires running continuously through the crossing, with the tram conductors a few centimetres lower. Close to the junction on each side, the tram wire turns into a solid bar running parallel to the trolleybus wires for about half a metre. Another bar similarly angled at its ends is hung between the trolleybus wires, electrically connected above to the tram wire. The tram's pantograph bridges the gap between the different conductors, providing it with a continuous pickup.

Where the tram wire crosses, the trolleybus wires are protected by an inverted trough of insulating material extending 20 or 30 mm (0.79 or 1.18 in) below.

Until 1946, a level crossing in Stockholm, Sweden connected the railway south of Stockholm Central Station and a tramway. The tramway operated on 600-700 V DC and the railway on 15 kV AC. In the Swiss village of Oberentfelden, the Menziken–Aarau–Schöftland line operating at 750 V DC crosses the SBB line at 15 kV AC; there used to be a similar crossing between the two lines at Suhr but this was replaced by an underpass in 2010. Some crossings between tramway/light rail and railways are extant in Germany. In Zürich, Switzerland, VBZ trolleybus line 32 has a level crossing with the 1,200 V DC Uetliberg railway line; at many places, trolleybus lines cross the tramway. In some cities, trolleybuses and trams shared a positive (feed) wire. In such cases, a normal trolleybus frog can be used.

Alternatively, section breaks can be sited at the crossing point, so that the crossing is electrically dead.

Two overhead conductor rails for the same track. Left, 1,200 V DC for the Uetliberg railway (the pantograph is mounted asymmetrically to collect current from this rail); right, 15 kV AC for the Sihltal railway

Some railways used two or three overhead lines, usually to carry three-phase current. This is used only on the Gornergrat Railway and Jungfrau Railway in Switzerland, the Petit train de la Rhune in France, and the Corcovado Rack Railway in Brazil. Until 1976, it was widely used in Italy. On these railways, the two conductors are used for two different phases of the three-phase AC, while the rail was used for the third phase. The neutral was not used.

Some three-phase AC railways used three overhead wires. These were an experimental railway line of Siemens in Berlin-Lichtenberg in 1898 (length 1.8 kilometres), the military railway between Marienfelde and Zossen between 1901 and 1904 (length 23.4 kilometres) and an 800-metre-long section of a coal railway near Cologne between 1940 and 1949.

On DC systems, bipolar overhead lines were sometimes used to avoid galvanic corrosion of metallic parts near the railway, such as on the Chemin de fer de la Mure.

All systems with multiple overhead lines have a high risk of short circuits at switches and therefore tend to be impractical in use, especially when high voltages are used or when trains run through the points at high speed.

The Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn has two lines with different electrification. To be able to use different electric systems on shared tracks, the Sihltal line has its overhead wire right above the train, whilst the Uetliberg line has its overhead wire off to one side.

Catenary (upper photo) is suited to higher-speed rail vehicles. Trolley wire (lower photo) is suited to slower-speed trams (streetcars) and light rail vehicles.

Overhead feeding rail on the RER Line C trenches and tunnels in central Paris

Compound catenary equipment of JR West

An older rail bridge in Berwick-upon-Tweed, retrofitted to include overhead catenary lines

A catenary is a system of overhead wires used to supply electricity to a locomotive, tram (streetcar), or light rail vehicle that is equipped with a pantograph.

Gantry with old and new suspended equipment at Grivita railway station, Bucharest.

Unlike simple overhead wires, in which the uninsulated wire is attached by clamps to closely spaced crosswires supported by poles, catenary systems use at least two wires. The catenary or messenger wire is hung at a specific tension between line structures, and a second wire is held in tension by the messenger wire, attached to it at frequent intervals by clamps and connecting wires known as droppers. The second wire is straight and level, parallel to the rail track, suspended over it as the roadway of a suspension bridge is over water.

Catenary systems are suited to high-speed operations whereas simple wire systems, which are less expensive to build and maintain, are common on light rail or tram (streetcar) lines, especially on city streets. Such vehicles can be fitted with either a pantograph or trolley pole.

The Northeast Corridor in the United States has catenary over the 600 miles (970 km) between Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. for Amtrak's inter-city trains. Commuter rail agencies including MARC, SEPTA, NJ Transit, and Metro-North Railroad utilize the catenary to provide local service.

In Cleveland, Ohio the interurban/light rail lines and the heavy rail line use the same overhead wires, due to a city ordinance intended to limit air pollution from the large number of steam trains that passed through Cleveland between the east coast and Chicago. Trains switched from steam to electric locomotives at the Collinwood railyards about 10 miles (16 km) east of Downtown and at Linndale on the west side. When Cleveland constructed its rapid transit (heavy rail) line between the airport, downtown, and beyond, it employed a similar catenary, using electrification equipment left over after railroads switched from steam to diesel. Light and heavy rail share trackage for about 3 miles (4.8 km) along the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Red (heavy rail) line, Blue and Green interurban/light rail lines between Cleveland Union Terminal and just past East 55th Street station, where the lines separate.

Part of the Boston, Massachusetts Blue Line through the northeast suburbs uses overhead lines, as does the Green Line.

Overhead lines may be adversely affected by strong winds causing wires to swing.[14] Power storms can knock the power out with lightning strikes on systems[15] with overhead wires, stopping trains following a power surge.

During cold or frosty weather, ice may coat overhead lines. This can result in poor electrical contact between the collector and the overhead line, resulting in electrical arcing and power surges.[16]

The installation of overhead lines may require reconstruction of bridges to provide safe electrical clearance.[17]

Overhead lines, like most electrified systems, require a greater capital expenditure when building the system than an equivalent non-electric system. While a conventional rail line requires only the grade, ballast, ties and rails, an overhead system also requires a complex system of support structures, lines, insulators, power-control systems and power lines, all of which require maintenance. This makes non-electrical systems more attractive in the short term, although electrical systems can pay for themselves eventually. Also, the added construction and maintenance cost-per-mile makes overhead systems less attractive on long-distance railways, such as those found in North America, where the distances between cities are typically far greater than in Europe. Such long lines require enormous investment in overhead line equipment, and major difficulties confront energizing long portions of overhead wire on a permanent basis, especially in areas where energy demand already outstrips supply.

Many people consider overhead lines to be "visual pollution", due to the many support structures and complicated system of wires and cables that fill the air. Such considerations have driven the move towards replacing overhead power and communications lines with buried cables where possible. The issue came to a head in the UK with the Great Western Main Line electrification scheme, especially through the Goring Gap. A protest group with their own website has been formed.[18]

The valuable copper conductor can also be subject to theft, as for example the Lahore-Khanewal line in Pakistan and the Gweru-Harare section of line in Zimbabwe.

The first tram with overhead lines was presented by Werner von Siemens at the 1881 International Exposition of Electricity in Paris: the installation was removed after that event. In October 1883, the first permanent tram service with overhead lines was on the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram in Austria. The trams had bipolar overhead lines, consisting of two U-pipes, in which the pantographs hung and ran like shuttles. From April to June 1882, Siemens had tested a similar system on his Electromote, an early precursor of the trolleybus.

Much simpler and more functional was an overhead wire in combination with a pantograph borne by the vehicle and pressed at the line from below. This system, for rail traffic with a unipolar line, was invented by Frank J. Sprague in 1888. From 1889 it was used at the Richmond Union Passenger Railway in Richmond, Virginia, pioneering electric traction.

• Overhead lines
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  Overhead lines in Queensland, Australia
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  Overhead lines on Swiss Federal Railways
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  Overhead lines (three-phase) on Jungfrau Railway, Switzerland
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  Overhead lines in China
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  Overhead lines in NW England
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  Overhead lines in Denmark near Roskilde. For aesthetic reasons, the support structure is constructed from hollow COR-TEN steel masts.
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  Brussels-South, overhead wires suspended across multiple tracks.
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  Transition zone of third-rail to overhead-wire supply on Chicago's Yellow Line (the "Skokie Swift")
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  Overhead lines in Auckland, New Zealand (25 kV AC)
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  Overhead lines in Wellington, New Zealand (1500 V DC)
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  Overhead lines on the Edmonton Capital Line.
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  3 kV DC overhead catenary in Kyiv.
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  Prittlewell station, Southend-on-Sea. It was electrified in the 1950s.
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  Cholsey railway station, Oxfordshire. It was electrified in the 2010s.
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  BR Class 308/1 EMU at Cambridge, April, 1987.

• Cooper, B.K. (February–March 1982). "Catenaries and Contact Wires". Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. pp. 14–16. ISSN 0262-561X. OCLC 49957965.
• "Garry Keenor – Overhead Line Electrification for Railways". Retrieved 2019-02-05.
• "Trans Power Guide". Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
• Liudvinavičius, Lionginas; Dailydka, Stasys (1 January 2016). "The Aspects of Catenary Maintenance of Direct Current (DC) and Alternating Current (AC)". Procedia Engineering. 134: 268–275. doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2016.01.007. ISSN 1877-7058.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Overhead lines.

• "[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: Electric Traction - I". irfca.org. Retrieved 2018-03-06.