Different overhead line heights

[straller]

Hello,

I was wondering, is there any difference in overhead line height between the UK and other countries? Are there any differences inside countries? I've heard that there are different heights for the French classic lines and high speed lines.

 

[507 001]

Hello,

I was wondering, is there any difference in overhead line height between the UK and other countries? Are there any differences inside countries? I've heard that there are different heights for the French classic lines and high speed lines.

OHLE height can vary to get under bridges, provide extra clearance over level crossings etc.

 

[edwin_m]

On high speed lines OLE is at a fixed height.

 

[straller]

Are there any different 'standard' heights that are used when there are no bridges or level crossings nearby?

 

[Gordon]

There are UIC loading gauge standards, but I'm not sure there are UIC standards for electrification.

European railways have various different standards, for instance the zig zag of Swiss contact wires is less pronounced than on other railways, and Swiss pantograph pans are therefore narrower.

 

[edwin_m]

The High Speed TSI for Energy should give the contact wire parameters for high speed, which will be standard across Europe. As noted the conventional network standards vary between countries - in fact I believe the Swiss variation noted above is different from Germany even though the voltage is the same.

Am I the only one that finds the text of the TSIs is extrordinarily difficult to find online?

 

[Gordon]

in fact I believe the Swiss variation noted above is different from Germany even though the voltage is the same.

Correct. The Swiss-built locos that run into Germany and Austria need no electrical mods, but need to have big wider Germanic style pantographs.

PIctures on this Swiss web page show the difference:

http://www.trainweb.org/re2/Variantes Re2_E.htm


.

 

[Stonesourscotty]

When in Melbourne i noted the height of the overhead cable changes very frequently..

 

[DownSouth]

When in Melbourne i noted the height of the overhead cable changes very frequently..

It does whenever electrification has been added to infrastructure already in place, going lower under bridges, signal gantries and canopied stations; higher at level crossings and so on. High speed lines are usually all new-build infrastructure and would therefore tend to have a much larger proportion of the route with the wires at the standard height as well as longer transitions between any raised/lowered sections.

Melbourne's electrification is very much a piecemeal job, it was never a single large project constructed to a single standard.

Adelaide's new 25kV AC electrification (with Melbourne-built EMUs - one of which was dropped off the back of a truck in Melbourne last week) has a standard wire height and segments raised/lowered where needed.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Adelaide's new 25kV AC electrification (with Melbourne-built EMUs - one of which was dropped off the back of a truck in Melbourne last week) has a standard wire height and segments raised/lowered where needed.

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but...!!

I have to ask if there are any images of this, or even a YouTube video...?

 

[DownSouth]

Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but...!!

I have to ask if there are any images of this, or even a YouTube video...?

You can be assured that there is much laughter among the few in Adelaide who know about this, but no pictures unfortunately! The centre car 4007T apparently fell off of its trailer while still in suburban Melbourne, which would have been under cover of darkness (they need to have it clearing the Melbourne suburban area before the morning peak traffic) and hence easy to keep quiet - unlike the busted Powerhaul 70012 which touched down in broad daylight.

The track gauge difficulties in Australia (the result of an English engineer who came to New South Wales in 1853 and convinced their government that they should swap from the gauge already agreed among the four colonies) and uncertainty over clearances on the Melbourne lines means that these units are delivered by road. You can see 4001A here on the truck they use, ready to depart Bombardier at Dandenong…

…but what that photo doesn't show is that this is a roll-on-roll-off trailer with rails running along it so no crane is required for loading. The trailer's rear tyres are deflated to create a gradient and the new railcar simply rolls down, regulated by a winch at the front of the trailer to get this result 32 hours later…

…which looks like this when the A, T and B cars are permanently coupled and driven over the spectacular 1.2km Onkaparinga River estuary bridge…

Evidently the easy roll-on-roll-off system is a little too easy if 4007T was able to unload itself on a suburban road in Melbourne!