By analyzing the thermal principle and energy consumption of catenary system in urban mass transit, this paper summarizes the calculation methods and main influencing factors of the catenary energy consumption.The optimization strategy for improving voltage and reducing energy consumption of catenary is presented based on train operation regulation. And a model minimizing the Joule energy consumption of catenary at the most is built to optimize and regulate the train operation schedule based on communication based train control system(CBTC) with the ant colony optimization algorithm under multiple constraints.At last the optimization strategy has been simulated with the practical parameter of the urban mass transit line 2 in shanghai and its effectiveness and feasibility are verified.The proposed strategy has a guiding value for improving the contemplated schedule and real time optimal regulation of train operation arrangement.