CFD study on aerodynamics of a train passing an underground railroad platform

The Dutch railways provide transport for more than 1.2 million passengers a day, resulting in more than 5200 train rides. In order to avoid overcrowded trains during rush hours, it is planned to increase the amount of passenger and freight trains, and their running velocities. Pedestrian discomfort or danger on platforms can be caused by trains which are allowed to pass small railway stations at high speed of up to 140 km/h. A number of these railway stations lay underground and it is known that space confinement increases the slipstream forces and results in augmented velocities behind the running train (Gilbert et al., 2012). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of a passing train on the wind flow induced inside a tunnel by means of CFD using LES simulation and to validate the simulations by wind-tunnel measurements.