Contact Wire Wear Measurement and Data Management

Modern electric trains in metro systems collect energy along the route for on-board utilization. If the overhead conductor system (OCS) is used to transmit the electric energy, then the interaction of pantograph strip on contact wire will form a wear couple that is continuous throughout the railway network. Unlike the replacement of pantograph strips that can be done off-site in depots, the renewal of contact wire must be completed on site using extensive manpower and expensive plants within a short period during the closure of traffic. So knowing the degree of wire wear and its rate of wear would be very important for the railway operator. In the long term, an asset replacement plan can be established. In the near term, a wear control index can be formulated to gauge the contact wire to check how close it is from breakage. This article discusses the approach adopted by the Hong Kong MTR to monitor the overhead contact wire using an automated contact wire wear measurement system based on non contact laser technology. The scheme using the collected data to manage the OCS asset is then elaborated. The way forward to embrace condition based maintenance (CBM) as a future direction for the maintenance of the OCS is also discussed