This paper presents a new approach to model a transmission tower for lightning performance studies. It consists of representing each part of the tower by equivalent vertical and/or horizontal transmission lines as required. While horizontal line parameters are obtained from standard line formulas, specific expressions are derived for the parameters of vertical lines. Moreover, mutual coupling between any two parallel vertical transmission lines is taken into account. Transient waveforms obtained using the proposed method are compared with experimental data obtained using a reduced-scale model and field experiments. The agreement between simulated results and experimental measurements is satisfactory