Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study

Yantong Liu; Ayoung Yun; Wanxiu Teng; Yang Gao; Xin Tian; Ervin Cui

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14

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Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study

Yantong Liu, Ayoung Yun, Wanxiu Teng, Yang Gao, Xin Tian, Ervin Cui

Published in American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (Volume 8, Issue 4)

Received: 17 July 2023 Accepted: 5 August 2023 Published: 28 August 2023

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Abstract

Due to the relatively small, confined space and large occupant loads in railcars, the fire protection and life safety in railcar is greatly concerned in the public transportation industry. The object of this study is to evaluate the emergency evacuation from railcars of a metropolitan railway system in the United States as part of the fire hazard analysis in accordance with NFPA 130, “Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems”. The evacuation time of the passengers in the railcars to a location (station or exit path) was analyzed by using a computational egress model Pathfinder, and difference scenarios were assigned in different emergency stop conditions that could affect the evacuation time from the railcars. It was found that the evacuation time with full load passengers in the railcars to station is less than 1 minute. Evacuation at the exit path may take much longer (15-20 minutes). This study is useful to assist the emergency management team of railway operation in preparing the emergency plan. Such as (1) station should be considered as the primary location for emergency evacuation; (2) When evacuation at exit path, it is better to first evacuate the railcar where the accident occurred instead of evacuating the entire train simultaneously. The evacuation results are also used to support the fire-resistant design criteria of the floor assembly, which is required to meet 30-minute criteria of ASTM E119 test by NFPA 130.

Published in	American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (Volume 8, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14
Page(s)	105-112
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Railcar, Evacuation, Egress Modelling, Fire-Resistance of Floor Assembly

References

[1]	William J. Mallett, “Trends in Public Transportation Ridership: Implications for Federal Policy”, Congressional Research Service \(CRS) Report 7-5700, 2018.
[2]	Federal Railroad Administration [FRA, 2002], 49 CFR Part 238, Passenger Equipment Safety Standards; Final Rule, FRA Docket No. PCSS-1, Notice No. 8, “Passenger Equipment Safety Standards,” Department of Transportation, Federal Register / Vol. 67, No. 122 / Tuesday, June 25, 2002 / Rules and Regulations.
[3]	NFPA 130: Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems, 2017 Edition.
[4]	ASTM E 2061-03, “Standard Guide for Fire Hazard Assessment of Rail Transportation Vehicles,” ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2003.
[5]	ASTM E119, “Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Building Construction and Materials”, American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), 2000.
[6]	R. D. Peacock, R. W. Bukowski, W. W. Jones and P. A. Reneke, “New Concepts for Fire Protection of Passenger Rail Transportation Vehicles” Fire Safety Science 4: 1007-1016, 1994.
[7]	Peacock, R. D., et al. Fire Safety of Passenger Trains: A Review of U S. and Foreign Approaches. Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Prepared for FRA/USDOT. Washington, DC. Final Report. Report No. DOT/FRA/ORD-93/23, December 1993.
[8]	Lattimer, B., Hunt, S., Wright, M., and Beyler, C.," Corner Fire Growth in a Room with Combustible Lining." Fire Safety Science - Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium Worcester, Massachusetts, 2002, pp. 12.
[9]	Lattimer, B, Beyler, C, “Heat Release Rates of Fully-developed Fires in Railcars” Fire Safety Science- Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium, 18-23 September 2005, Beijing, China, International Association for Fire Safety Science, 2005, pp. 1169-1180.
[10]	Y. Liu, C. Luo, E. Cui, “Modeling Evaluation for Fire Resistance Design of Rail Car Floor Assembly,” Case Studies in Thermal Engineering Volume 39, 2022.
[11]	John F. Devlin, “Fixed-Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems Fire Safety: An Overview” Fire Protection Engineering, 2014.
[12]	“Jica Preparatory Survey on Greater Cairo Metro Line No. 4 in the Arab Republic of Egypt” Japan International Cooperation Agency: Nippon Koei Co., Ltd.: Japan Railway Technical Service: Nippon Civic Consulting Engineers Co., Ltd., 2010.
[13]	Pathfinder Technical Reference, Thunderhead Engineering Inc., 2017.
[14]	SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), 2016.
[15]	Pathfinder User Manual, Thunderhead Engineering Inc., 2017.

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APA Style

Yantong Liu, Ayoung Yun, Wanxiu Teng, Yang Gao, Xin Tian, et al. (2023). Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study. American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, 8(4), 105-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14

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ACS Style

Yantong Liu; Ayoung Yun; Wanxiu Teng; Yang Gao; Xin Tian, et al. Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study. Am. J. Traffic Transp. Eng. 2023, 8(4), 105-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14

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AMA Style

Yantong Liu, Ayoung Yun, Wanxiu Teng, Yang Gao, Xin Tian, et al. Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study. Am J Traffic Transp Eng. 2023;8(4):105-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14,
  author = {Yantong Liu and Ayoung Yun and Wanxiu Teng and Yang Gao and Xin Tian and Ervin Cui},
  title = {Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study},
  journal = {American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering},
  volume = {8},
  number = {4},
  pages = {105-112},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajtte.20230804.14},
  abstract = {Due to the relatively small, confined space and large occupant loads in railcars, the fire protection and life safety in railcar is greatly concerned in the public transportation industry. The object of this study is to evaluate the emergency evacuation from railcars of a metropolitan railway system in the United States as part of the fire hazard analysis in accordance with NFPA 130, “Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems”. The evacuation time of the passengers in the railcars to a location (station or exit path) was analyzed by using a computational egress model Pathfinder, and difference scenarios were assigned in different emergency stop conditions that could affect the evacuation time from the railcars. It was found that the evacuation time with full load passengers in the railcars to station is less than 1 minute. Evacuation at the exit path may take much longer (15-20 minutes). This study is useful to assist the emergency management team of railway operation in preparing the emergency plan. Such as (1) station should be considered as the primary location for emergency evacuation; (2) When evacuation at exit path, it is better to first evacuate the railcar where the accident occurred instead of evacuating the entire train simultaneously. The evacuation results are also used to support the fire-resistant design criteria of the floor assembly, which is required to meet 30-minute criteria of ASTM E119 test by NFPA 130.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study
AU  - Yantong Liu
AU  - Ayoung Yun
AU  - Wanxiu Teng
AU  - Yang Gao
AU  - Xin Tian
AU  - Ervin Cui
Y1  - 2023/08/28
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14
T2  - American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering
JF  - American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering
JO  - American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering
SP  - 105
EP  - 112
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-8604
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14
AB  - Due to the relatively small, confined space and large occupant loads in railcars, the fire protection and life safety in railcar is greatly concerned in the public transportation industry. The object of this study is to evaluate the emergency evacuation from railcars of a metropolitan railway system in the United States as part of the fire hazard analysis in accordance with NFPA 130, “Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems”. The evacuation time of the passengers in the railcars to a location (station or exit path) was analyzed by using a computational egress model Pathfinder, and difference scenarios were assigned in different emergency stop conditions that could affect the evacuation time from the railcars. It was found that the evacuation time with full load passengers in the railcars to station is less than 1 minute. Evacuation at the exit path may take much longer (15-20 minutes). This study is useful to assist the emergency management team of railway operation in preparing the emergency plan. Such as (1) station should be considered as the primary location for emergency evacuation; (2) When evacuation at exit path, it is better to first evacuate the railcar where the accident occurred instead of evacuating the entire train simultaneously. The evacuation results are also used to support the fire-resistant design criteria of the floor assembly, which is required to meet 30-minute criteria of ASTM E119 test by NFPA 130.
VL  - 8
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Yantong Liu

State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, Univ. of Sci. and Tech. of China (USTC), Hefei, China
Ayoung Yun

Jensen Hughes, Schaumburg, IL, USA
Wanxiu Teng

CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd, Changchun, China
Yang Gao

CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd, Changchun, China
Xin Tian

CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd, Changchun, China
Ervin Cui

Wiss Janey Elstner (WJE), Northbrook, IL, USA

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APA Style

Yantong Liu, Ayoung Yun, Wanxiu Teng, Yang Gao, Xin Tian, et al. (2023). Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study. American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, 8(4), 105-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14

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ACS Style

Yantong Liu; Ayoung Yun; Wanxiu Teng; Yang Gao; Xin Tian, et al. Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study. Am. J. Traffic Transp. Eng. 2023, 8(4), 105-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14

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AMA Style

Yantong Liu, Ayoung Yun, Wanxiu Teng, Yang Gao, Xin Tian, et al. Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study. Am J Traffic Transp Eng. 2023;8(4):105-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14,
  author = {Yantong Liu and Ayoung Yun and Wanxiu Teng and Yang Gao and Xin Tian and Ervin Cui},
  title = {Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study},
  journal = {American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering},
  volume = {8},
  number = {4},
  pages = {105-112},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajtte.20230804.14},
  abstract = {Due to the relatively small, confined space and large occupant loads in railcars, the fire protection and life safety in railcar is greatly concerned in the public transportation industry. The object of this study is to evaluate the emergency evacuation from railcars of a metropolitan railway system in the United States as part of the fire hazard analysis in accordance with NFPA 130, “Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems”. The evacuation time of the passengers in the railcars to a location (station or exit path) was analyzed by using a computational egress model Pathfinder, and difference scenarios were assigned in different emergency stop conditions that could affect the evacuation time from the railcars. It was found that the evacuation time with full load passengers in the railcars to station is less than 1 minute. Evacuation at the exit path may take much longer (15-20 minutes). This study is useful to assist the emergency management team of railway operation in preparing the emergency plan. Such as (1) station should be considered as the primary location for emergency evacuation; (2) When evacuation at exit path, it is better to first evacuate the railcar where the accident occurred instead of evacuating the entire train simultaneously. The evacuation results are also used to support the fire-resistant design criteria of the floor assembly, which is required to meet 30-minute criteria of ASTM E119 test by NFPA 130.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Egress Modeling of Evacuation from Railcar - A Case Study
AU  - Yantong Liu
AU  - Ayoung Yun
AU  - Wanxiu Teng
AU  - Yang Gao
AU  - Xin Tian
AU  - Ervin Cui
Y1  - 2023/08/28
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14
T2  - American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering
JF  - American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering
JO  - American Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering
SP  - 105
EP  - 112
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-8604
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtte.20230804.14
AB  - Due to the relatively small, confined space and large occupant loads in railcars, the fire protection and life safety in railcar is greatly concerned in the public transportation industry. The object of this study is to evaluate the emergency evacuation from railcars of a metropolitan railway system in the United States as part of the fire hazard analysis in accordance with NFPA 130, “Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems”. The evacuation time of the passengers in the railcars to a location (station or exit path) was analyzed by using a computational egress model Pathfinder, and difference scenarios were assigned in different emergency stop conditions that could affect the evacuation time from the railcars. It was found that the evacuation time with full load passengers in the railcars to station is less than 1 minute. Evacuation at the exit path may take much longer (15-20 minutes). This study is useful to assist the emergency management team of railway operation in preparing the emergency plan. Such as (1) station should be considered as the primary location for emergency evacuation; (2) When evacuation at exit path, it is better to first evacuate the railcar where the accident occurred instead of evacuating the entire train simultaneously. The evacuation results are also used to support the fire-resistant design criteria of the floor assembly, which is required to meet 30-minute criteria of ASTM E119 test by NFPA 130.
VL  - 8
IS  - 4
ER  -

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