In situ determination of rail track electrical impedance and admittance matrix elements

A novel differential excitation technique is described for the experimental determination of the elements of rail track impedance and admittance matrices from measurements of rail voltages, and currents on a short, isolated track section. The establishment of a common earth point along the track is unnecessary, although rail breaks and driven earth rods at the feed and remote ends of the test section are required. Rail self and mutual impedance and admittance measurements are reported for a single railway track, for a frequency of 50 Hz