...replacing the overhead lines altogether by retrofitting the trains to run off of hydrogen:
North America’s First Hydrogen-Powered Train Will Debut This Summer
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/north-america-first-hydrogen-powered-train-180981800/
The hydrogen-powered Train de Charlevoix will run a 90-minute route between Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, the site of an almost 300-foot waterfall located just outside of Québec City, and Baie-Saint-Paul, a picturesque riverside town known for its art galleries and local food scene, reports the Independent’s Joanna Whitehead. Developed by the French company Alstom, the train has been in the works for a decade.
The project is a triumph for North America, though European countries beat Canada to the punch: Germany started testing the world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger trains in 2018, going on to roll out a fleet in 2022. The German Coradia iLint trains, also made by Alstom, can reach speeds of 140 miles per hour. A single tank of hydrogen can last for more that 600 miles.
Germany’s trains are a “model for the rest of the world” and “a milestone on the road to climate neutrality in the transport sector,” said Stephan Weil, president of Lower Saxony, last summer, per CNN’s Julia Buckley.
The solution: Hydrogen fuel cell power for electric locomotives
From:
https://blog.ballard.com/hydrogen-train
To replace diesel, the rail industry needs a zero-emission solution that can deliver the same power, range, reliability—and cost effectiveness—as legacy diesel technology. The issue is being confronted in many jurisdictions globally.
That solution is hydrogen fuel cells.
Fuel cells are low maintenance - there are no moving parts and fuel cells have plug-in modularity: powerful 200kW units can simply be swapped out when required.
Fuel cells are truly zero emission - unlike, for example, LNG. Why convert from diesel to another fossil fuel, when it’s possible to achieve full decarbonization with hydrogen?
Hydrogen refueling is quick - a fuel cell electric multiple unit passenger train can run for 18+ hours after less than 20 minutes of refueling. Compare that to many hours of downtime to recharge a battery-powered electric train.
Fuel cells’ range is longer - hydrogen fuel cell trains have a long range of up to 1000 kilometers between refueling—ten times farther than battery-powered electric trains. Centralized hydrogen refueling stations only need to be within 1000 kilometers of each other.
Fuel cell locomotives can be deployed anywhere (with no catenary) - fuel cell locomotives can easily take over the service routes of diesel locomotives. Their range is comparable and there is no need for the costly electrical infrastructure of catenary trains.
Fuel cell power can be retrofitted into existing locomotives - Ballard FCmove™ heavy-duty fuel cell modules are available in plug-in 200kW modules that are ideal for retrofitting.
This would entirely eliminate the "heat" problem in the OP article
From the OP article:
NJ Transit officials found that high temperatures contributed to the problem on the Morris & Essex lines on July 5 that resulted in 350 passengers rescued from stranded trains by South Orange firefighters and Maplewood Police.
The problem is simple, high heat causes the copper wires and support cables, called catenary, to sag, said Lazar Spasovic, civil and environmental engineering professor and Intelligent Transportation Systems (Resource Center director at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Jim Smith, a NJ Transit spokesperson, confirmed the high temperatures was a “contributing factor” to last week’s breakdowns. “Initial repairs were made, however, continued temperature fluctuations overnight caused a sag in the wire which required additional work on Friday,” he said.
When the cables sag, the train’s pantograph, the apparatus on roof that picks up the power, pushes upward onto the power line and can snap or rip it, Spasovic said. The fix is to keep the wires taut in hot weather, but allow slack when they contract in cold weather. There are several systems that do this, he said.
One solution that might not be acceptable to passengers is slower train speeds, since it causes delays, Spasovic said. The other are mechanisms to take up the slack, he said.
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