Electrical Circuit lines on Train tracks?

Question

At the time of Train accidents, the overhead Electrical lines get snapped particularly when there is a collision of two or more compartments. In such cases, will the electricity supply get automatically stopped? and if so, how?

Answer 1

Usually does because something comes into contact with the wire which is also in contact with the ground, and thus the electricity will go to earth, which trips the circuit breakers.

But the fire service and any other workers will insist on the juice being turned off and isolated manually as well.

Answer 2

Even after a line is broken, it is still considered "energized/life-threatening" until a railroad employee gets there and insures the line is de-energized/safe.  After all, if there is another train running behind the accident, it's completing the circuit, and the power can go through that train, then through the tracks for several miles in each direction.  The problem isn't just a broken power line, but also broken tracks that can get energized (and they can be energized long after the accident, and another train gets near).  So, shutting off the power also means making sure there are no other trains around, and constantly reading the voltages.

Answer 3

There are fuses and/or detection devices that are intended to switch of the power supply in case of an accident. But as trains draw large currents and the power lines themselves have a certain amount of resistance the detection is rather complicated and therefore unfortunately cannot be guaranteed to work 100%. This is the case for power-lines in general, not only for electric trains.

Extreme caution is vital in any case of an accident including any form of high-voltage power-line!