contact wire

English

Noun

contact wire (plural contact wires)

1. (rail transport) A bare wire conducting electricity, often the lower part of the catenary, which comes into contact with a raised pantograph or other form of current collector.
   • 1962 March, “The New Year Freeze-up on British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 158:

     Overhead electric equipment generally stood up well both to the weight of vertically falling snow and to the effects of snow on contact wires; [...].