Pantograph and catenary system with double pantographs for high-speed trains at 350 km/h or higher

The paper is aimed at developing an optimized design of the pantograph and catenary system with double pantographs at a speed of 350 km/h for the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway. First, the pantograph and catenary system for the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway was analyzed to verify whether its design objective could be fulfilled. It shows that the system is not able to satisfy the requirement of a sustainable running speed of 350 km/h. Then a new scheme for the pantograph and catenary system is proposed through optimization and renovation of the structure and parameters of the pantograph and catenary system, including the suspension type of the catenary, tension of the contact wire, and space between two pantographs. Finally, the dynamic performance of the new system was verified by simulation and line testing. The results show that the new scheme of the pantograph and catenary system for the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway is acceptable, in which the steady contact between the rear pantograph and the catenary at the space of 200 m can be maintained to ensure the current-collection quality. A current collection with double pantographs at a speed of 350 km/h or higher can be achieved.