contact wire
noun1
Rail transport, Railways, 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.
- Overhead electric equipment generally stood up well both to the weight of vertically falling snow and to the effects of snow on contact wires; [...].1962 March, “The New Year Freeze-up on British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 158: