A series of experimental tests were carried out to investigate the wear behavior and temperature rise of a pure carbon strip rubbing against a CuAg alloy contact wire on a highspeed electric sliding test machine of the pantographcatenary system under constant electric current and different voltage parameters.The experimental results show that with the increasing of the experimental voltage,arc discharge phenomenon between pantograph and catenary is more obvious,its time of duration becomes longer,and the wear rate is increased sharply first and then keeps stable gradually.The wear rate of the pure carbon strip is correlated with the surface temperature of the pure carbon strip.A SEM observation of the worn surface of pure carbon strip indicates that,with the increasing of the experimental voltage,the wear mechanism of the carbon strip is changed from a mechanical wear to arc erosion and oxidative wear,the arc ablation pit on the surface is increased and distributed uniformly on the whole scar,and the ablation area becomes larger.