Double electrification

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Double electrification is a system whereby a railway line is supplied power both via overhead catenary and a third rail. This is done to enable trains that use either system of power to share the same railway line, for example in the case of mainline and suburban trains (as used at Hamburg S-Bahn between 1940 and 1955). Parts of the UK North London Line are double electrified. New York's Penn Station and the adjoining East River Tunnels and North River Tunnels are also double-electrified.

Generally, the system is used in exceptional cases, as it can lead to problems caused by the influence of the electric circuits, for example, where one system is powered with direct current and another by alternating current (AC), premagnetisation of the substation transformers of the AC system can occur.

A similar arrangement to double electrification is one in which both means of powering a train are present, yet are not in simultaneous use. Such arrangements can be found in frontier stations and in sections of railway used for running tests.