Fire safety assessment of Open Wide Gangway underground trains in tunnels using coupled fire and evacuation simulation

This article examines fire safety in tunnels and the Open Wide Gangway (OWG) train configuration. Specifically it considers the interaction of fire effluent and evacuating passengers. Fire and evacuation scenarios are simulated including conventional underground train configuration and OWG configuration; wide tunnel with car side doors available for evacuation and narrow tunnel with only end cab doors available; fully loaded train and half loaded train; and accidental fire versus arson fire. It is determined that when considering evacuation dynamics, OWG trains result in a greater number of casualties than conventional train configurations. This is due to the spread of fire effluent throughout the non-compartmented OWG train.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/doi:10.1002/fam.2413
• Record URL:
  • https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fam.2413
• Authors:
  • Galea, E R
  • Wang, Zhangu
  • Jia, F
  • Lawrence, P J
  • Ewer, J
• Publication Date: 2017-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 716-737
• Serial:
  • Fire and Materials
  • Volume: 41
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
  • EISSN: 1099-1018
  • Serial URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10991018

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Evacuation; Railroad safety; Railroad trains; Simulation; Tunnels; Vehicle design; Vehicle fires
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01668736
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 8 2018 2:09PM