The potential influence of airflow leakage between adjacent cars along a train is assessed and different outcomes are found for (i) well-sealed, high-speed trains and (ii) nominally unsealed, lower-speed trains. For the former, it is shown that inter-car leakage has the potential to decrease the maximum pressure changes experienced by passengers and hence could enable the required cross-sectional area of tunnels to be reduced. Likewise, it could enable train operation at increased speeds in existing tunnels. For the latter (unsealed trains), it is shown that inter-car leakage would have a smaller influence on maximum pressure changes experienced by passengers. Inter-car leakage implies the existence of longitudinal airflows along cars. It is shown that these are small in well-sealed trains, but that they could cause unacceptably large velocities in restricted-area regions of unsealed trains.
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