Evaluation of speech intelligibility of sound fields in passenger train compartments

摘要

The noise level inside a running train ranges from 60 to 80 dB for an outdoor ground-level track [1] and 60 to 100 dB for an underground track [2–4]. In such a noisy environment, it may be difficult to understand important announcements for passengers from public address (PA) systems, such as information about travel (e.g., the next station, stations where passengers transfer), notices (e.g., the locations of toilets, public phones and designated smoking areas), safety announcements (e.g., warnings of upcoming curves in the track, the locations of open doors), and warnings (e.g., safety with regard to pickpocketing). Therefore, the speech intelligibility of announcements made through train PA systems is necessary to relay important information to passengers.