CatMon - Catenary monitoring for Adelaide DPTI

Challenge

When Adelaide Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DPTI) reviewed its catenary measurement programmes, which had to that point been using traditional measurement trains, it concluded that it was operating too infrequently to support proactive maintenance. They approached Ricardo’s technology partner, Telemattica, to introduce CatMon technology to the network.

Approach

When overhead wire is subjected to normal load/pressures it will typically last for around 10 years before it needs to be replaced. However, when imperfections such as hard spots emerge they can quickly cause additional wear and tear, increasing the risk of wire breakage.

CatMon mounts two accelerometers to the pantograph of an in-service train to provide round-the-clock monitoring. As the train travels the network during daily services, it captures measurements of the interface between the overhead wires and the pantograph unit.

Results

With CatMon's continuous monitoring data, Adelaide DPTI was able to take action whenever certain risk thresholds were exceeded. In more than 50% of cases, the subsequent inspection by Adelaide DPTI confirmed that intervention was required to prevent further damage.