RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To explore the crew and passengers' comfort on the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan passenger dedicated line and physical factors, such as air pressure, noise, wind speed. METHODS: Comfort investigation of all the crew (n = 244) and passengers (n = 377) on the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan passenger dedicated line at speed of 250 km/h and 200 km/h and the detection of the air pressure, noise and wind speed were performed in 2011. RESULTS: Significantly higher ratio of comfortable feeling, lower ratio of seriously discomfortable feeling were observed in crew and passengers at 200 km/h compared with those at 250 km/h (P < 0.05), as well as rapid disappearance of discomfortable feeling in crew (P < 0.05) and significantly higher ratio of lightly discomfortable feeling and lower ratios of tinnitus and eardrum discomfort induced by air pressure and noise in passengers at 200 km/h. No significant difference was observed in ear discomfort induced by air pressure and noise among crew, and the duration of disappearance of discomfortable feeling among passengers between 200 km/h and 250 km/h. The noise in carriages exceeded the related standard when the high-speed train passing through the tunnels. CONCLUSION: The individuals feel more comfortable at 200 km/h than 250 km/h in this line., which may be related with rapid variation of wind speed and noise when the train passes through the tunnels with high speed.
