Abstract: When a short-circuit fault occurs in the traction network, the short-circuit will cause a significant increase in the train body potential and return current, which will threaten the personal safety and normal operation of on-board electrical equipment. In order to accurately grasp the distribution of train body potential and return current under short-circuit conditions, it is necessary to consider the inductive coupling between the traction network and the train ground loop. Based on the analysis of traction power supply system and engineering electromagnetic field theory, this paper derives the phasor expressions of conduction current and induced current in the ground loop, and theoretically proves that considering inductive coupling will increase the body potential and return of the body. The established train-network-ground coupling model is adopted to perform the the simulation calculation and the comparison with the measured data, and the results show that the simulation value of the train body to wheel potential difference considering the inductive coupling is 1.04 V smaller than the measured value, and the error is 8.9%. The simulated value under inductive coupling is 6.30 V smaller than the measured value, and the error is 54.0%, which verifies the correctness of the theoretical analysis. Finally, a simulation model considering inductive coupling is used to study the train body potential and body return distribution characteristics. The results show that the potential difference between the train body and the wheel is mainly affected by the position of the short-circuit point and the train position, the ground potential of the car body is mainly affected by the rail leakage resistance, and the train body return is mainly affected by the equivalent resistance of the train body to the wheel.