Around eighty years ago, research was conducted to predict wind speeds in railway tunnels caused by the piston effect of trains. The aim was to clear smoke from the tunnels quickly after coal-burning steam locomotives had passed through them. Similar research is now being conducted to predict wind speeds in railway tunnels to help maintain the thermal environment or exhaust smoke in the event of a tunnel fire. This study presents data on the measured wind speeds in a railway tunnel located in a cool climate region in Japan during winter months, when natural wind speeds are expected to be high due to the difference in temperature between inside and outside the tunnel. The measured wind speeds are also compared with those predicted using methods developed in the past.
Saito et al. (Wed,) studied this question.