Improvement of the system for reporting the state of the electrified railway contact line

Ensuring the stable and reliable operation of electrified railways requires continuous monitoring of the overhead contact line (CL), whose mechanical displacement under wind loads can lead to interruptions in power transmission, pantograph detachment, and safety hazards. Traditional inspection and monitoring systems are limited in responsiveness and cannot provide real-time information about the dynamic state of the CL. This study presents an improved contact line deviation reporting system based on distributed Signal Processing and Transmission Modules (SPTM) and Signal Reception Modules (SRM) connected through a GSM wireless communication network. Each vibration sensor installed on the catenary wire continuously measures the displacement amplitude, converts the analog signal into digital form, and transmits it to the dispatcher or driver in real time. The developed modules were implemented using microcontrollers with embedded wireless interfaces, allowing autonomous operation powered by solar-assisted batteries and ensuring electromagnetic protection under high-voltage (25 kV) conditions. Field experiments were carried out on an electrified railway test section near the Tashkent depot to evaluate the system’s performance in real environmental conditions – including wind speeds of 5-18 m/s, ambient temperatures from –10 °C to +38 °C, and during snow and rain. The results confirmed stable data transmission up to 1 km distance with signal delay below 0.8 s and detection accuracy above 95 %. The proposed system thus enables real-time monitoring, automatic warning, and high reliability of communication even under harsh weather conditions, significantly improving the safety and efficiency of train operation. The novelty of this work lies in the practical validation of a GSM-based monitoring network for contact line deviation detection that integrates autonomous power supply, environmental robustness, and real-field reliability testing – aspects that are rarely demonstrated in previous studies.