Development of rigid conductor line for high-speed operation

The development of power electronics has made it possible to use inverters for trains of electric railways. Power is supplied to trains from contact lines on the ground through the pantographs mounted on trains. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a contact line system that will limit contact loss within the allowable limits for inverters. In addition, high-speed railways of Japan tend to be constructed in tunnel sections in recent years. When compared with catenary systems, rigid conductor line systems feature a simple structure and easy maintenance. It also saves tunnel construction costs. Since conventional rigid conductor lines do not have elasticity against pantographs in current collection, however, the current collecting performance depends on its pantograph compliance characteristics and the unevenness of its contact surface. This makes it difficult to cope with train operation over 160 km/h. To use rigid conductor line systems for train operation over 160 km/h, therefore, we have developed a new rigid conductor line. Running tests have proved that the new rigid conductor line ensures current collection up to 200 km/h and is applicable to train operation even at higher speed due to its superb performance of current collection.