Why is the neutral section provided with a dummy (neutral or electrically dead) cable? Why can't it be a real gap?

Pantographs of electric locomotives have a spring mechanism or compressed-air assembly that keeps the pantograph pushing up against the contact wire with a certain specific pressure. If the neutral section were not wired and the contact wire simply ceased to exist, then then possibility exists that if the driver has not dropped the pantographs at the time the loco reaches the neutral section, then the pantograph will suddenly rise upwards unchecked; when the loco reaches the other end of the neutral zone, it is then likely to smash into the catenary where the next contact wire section begins. It should be noted that in practice, at neutral sections where it is or was a requirement to drop the pantographs, it has been observed that IR crews almost never forget to do so. But now with more locos and neutral sections coming up which do not require the pantograph to be dropped, this does become a concern.

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