The catenaries are essential to the circulation of electric trains, including those driving at more than 300 km/h. On the French network, they total more than 33,000 kilometers. Although they are designed to last decades, their wear is inevitable, with an average of 16 incidents per year linked to abrasion. Until now, their surveillance has been carried out using specialized, slow and rare vehicles capable of assessing the condition of cables every five years on the same line.
Categasters under close surveillance
To get out of this logistical impasse, SNCF Réseau has developed Camescat, a measurement sensor installed on a modified pantograph. Designed in 2015 in partnership with Infrabel (the Belgian manager) and Eurailscout France, the system uses two lasers to rebuild the profile of three -dimensional wires. It captures up to 6,000 images per second and measures the thickness of the catenaries to the nearest half-millimeter, while driving at 120 km/h.
One of the great advantages of the device is precisely its speed. It can be inserted in trade traffic or inspect a high -speed line in one night. “” We can now make a precise measurement at 120 km/h “Explains Chantal Labadie, project manager at SNCF Réseau. A second copy of Camescat is scheduled for 2027, which will inspect the almost all of the network each year.
The Camescat project goes beyond simple preventive maintenance. It is also part of an economic logic and environmental protection. Copper, the main component of catenaries, is more and more expensive. The system therefore makes it possible to precisely identify the truly damaged areas, which avoids replacing still functional cables. “” This will allow us to optimize our copper consumption “, Underlines Chantal Labadie. In parallel, SNCF Network continues its efforts to recycle the old catenaries.
On the technical side, the integration of the system required a lot of homologation work, with 150 components and 20 kg of on -board equipment. The system is also based on a computer infrastructure capable of processing large volumes of data and transmitting it via the Cloud to analysis teams.
« Going from a prototype to a reliable production tool is always a delicate milestone », Notes Guillaume Jehanne, Managing Director of Eurailscout France. But everyone worked in good intelligence between engineers, operators and maintainers. This collective approach was also hailed internally, as an example of good synergy between the different branches of the group.
CAMESCAT has not finished talking about him: several European operators have already expressed their interest in this sensor which offers good industrial performance while consuming little.
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