Abstract
The paper investigates the evacuation of passengers from commuter trains with a focus on reduced visibility due to smoke. Fire situations in trains, where smoke can obscure the vision and have a debilitating effect on the passengers and the close geometry of the compartment allows the occupants almost no space to move away from the hazard area, require the incorporation of efficient mechanisms to assist in a rapid egress. Due to those risks two full-scale evacuation experiments were conducted in a newly released commuter train presently used by the Austrian Federal Railways, in which participants were partially subjected to non-toxic smoke. The findings of the trials have highlighted a number of issues as for example possible design revisions, improvements of the signage system and modifications of the acoustic announcement system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Technische Universität Wien, Institut für Baustofflehre, Bauphysik und Brandschutz: Evakuierungsversuch TW 4023, ÖBB “E-Talent” Zug 4023-005, Versuchbericht, (unpublished) (Juli 2004).
Technische Universität Wien, Institut für Baustofflehre, Bauphysik und Brandschutz: Brandschutztechnisches Gutachten Rh 4023 und Rh 4024, ÖBB „E-Talent“, (unpublished) (Jänner 2004).
T. Jin: Studies on Human Behaviour and Tenability in Fire Smoke, Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium IAFFS, Melbourne Australia, pp. 3–21 (1997).
T. Jin and T. Yamada: Irritating Effects from Fire Smoke on Visibility, Fire Science and Technology, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 79–90 (1985).
T. Jin: Visibility Through Fire Smoke, Report of the Fire Institute of Japan No. 42, (Sept. 1976).
H. Muir, C. Marrison, and A. Evans: Aircraft Evacuation: The Effect of Passenger Motivation and Cabin Configuration Adjacent to the Exit, CAA Paper 89019, ISBN 0860394069, CAA London (1989).
H. Muir and A. Cobbett: Influence of Cabin Crew Behaviour in Emergency Evacuations at Floor Level Exits, Report prepared for CAA/FAA, CAA Paper 95006 Part A, ISBN 0860396495, CAA London (1996).
S. Gwynne, E.R. Galea, M. Owen, and P.J. Lawrence: An Investigation of the Aspects of Occupant Behaviour Required for Evacuation Modelling, Journal of Applied Fire Science Vol. 8(1), pp. 19–59, ISSN 1044-4300 (1998/1999).
S. Gwynne, E.R. Galea, M. Owen, and P.J. Lawrence: Escape as a Social Response, Report published by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, USA (1999).
E.R. Galea and S. Gwynne: Evacuating an Overturned Smoke Filled Rail Carriage, Paper No. 00/IM/55, Centre for Numerical Modelling and Process Analysis, University of Greenwich, ISBN 1899991565, London (2000).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Oswald, M., Lebeda, C., Schneider, U., Kirchberger, H. (2007). Full-Scale Evacuation Experiments in a smoke filled Rail Carriage — a detailed study of passenger behaviour under reduced visibility. In: Waldau, N., Gattermann, P., Knoflacher, H., Schreckenberg, M. (eds) Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics 2005. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-47064-9_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-47064-9_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-47062-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47064-9
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)