The traffic situation of the future goes towards flexibility of train configurations and increasing speed. There is a need for the ability to adjust the number of passenger cars as well as the energy consumption for trains to run efficiently, leading to multiple pantographs and short pantograph distances. Limitations due to this were studied on an existing catenary system. A model of the pantograph catenary system was developed in a finite element program. To verify the correctness of the model, comparison with full scale experiments was done. Results from the simulations indicates that trailing pantographs suffers from high dynamic effects within the section overlap. Effects of changes in design of the section overlap was studied. The results show that it is possible to get lower dynamic effects in the section overlap, even lower than within an ordinary span.