Safety of High Speed Guided Ground Transportation Systems: Magnetic and Electric Field Testing of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Metrorail System. Volume 1. Analysis

摘要

The safety of magnetically levitated (maglev) and high speed rail (HSR) trains proposed for application in the United States is the responsibility of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Plans for near future US applications include maglev technology (e.g. in Orlando, FL and Pittsburgh, PA) and high speed rail (e.g. the French Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) in the Texas Triangle, between Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, and along five designated high speed corridors). Concerns exist regarding the potential safety, environmental and health effects on the public and on transportation workers due to electrification along new or existing rail corridors, and to maglev and high speed rail operations. Therefore, the characterization of electric and magnetic fields (EMF) produced by both steady (dc) and alternating currents (ac) at power frequency (50 Hz in Europe and 60 Hz in the U.S.) and above, in the Extreme Low Frequency (ELF) range (3-3000 Hz) is of interest. An EMF survey of the Washington Metrorail (WMATA) transit system was performed, as part of a comprehensive comparative EMF safety assessment of the German Transrapid (TR-07) maglev system with other existing and advanced rail systems. The report provides the Analysis (Vol. I) of results, and detailed data and statistical summaries (Vol. II, Appendices) of representative EMF profiles on vehicles and facilities typical of this transit electrotechnology (third rail dc). EMF data represent a range of train operating conditions and locations (in vehicles, stations and waysides), as well as in traffic control and electrical power supply facilities.