Performance Evaluation of Overhead Track Equipment and Prediction of Future Performance

Overhead Track Equipment (OHTE) is regarded as the least reliable subsystem of the railway electric traction system. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the OHTE system failure pattern in the South African railway sector and predict future failures, as well as the failure modes responsible for system failures. The AC OHTE failures were found to be random, and they were predicted to remain constant for the next four years if no changes were made to the system. Broken parts and loose connections were the primary contributors to system failures on the AC OHTE. If no changes are made to the system, the DC OHTE will resemble an increasing failure pattern and is expected to increase over the next four years. The main causes of DC OHTE failures were missing parts and loose connections. The study relied on secondary data and to gain a comprehensive understanding of the causes of OHTE failures, future research should rely on primary data and interviews.