Overhead contact systems were designed against mainly wind pressure loads before 1982 without considering the seismic effects because we didn't have an earthquake resistant design guide for overhead contact systems. An earthquake resistant design guide for this purpose was drawn after the Miyagiken-offshore Earthquake in 1978. As devastating damage occurred to a number of railway structures in the Hyogoken-Nambu Earthquake on January 17, 1995, a new seismic design standard for railway structures has been drawn up. With the addition of this design standard, we have made up a new earthquake resistant design guide for overhead contact systems. Since elasto-plastic analysis is adopted in this new guide, we can design overhead contact systems by using the charts of Strength Demand Spectra. This paper reports an outline of the new earthquake resistant design guide.