Stray Current and Rail Potential Control Strategies in Electric Railway Systems

Nowadays, electric railways play a pivotal role in public transportation in terms of speed, time, less pollution, etc. However, because of weak insulation of the running rails, a small amount of traction current can leak into the earth and underground infrastructures, which are called stray currents. These currents can be hazardous for electric railway systems, and it is a necessity to pay precise attention to them as an unfavorable current flow. They can impose several million dollars’ loss on governments if there will not be workable solutions to reduce negative consequences. Annually, they cause irreparable damage to underground infrastructures such as computer sites, pipelines, and cables. Hence, suggesting control methods for stray currents, mitigation will be indispensable either for the governments and rail stations’ personnel because of electric shocks. This chapter presents a review of control strategies for mitigating these hazardous currents, which can lead to pipelines or other infrastructures’ corrosion.