COMFORT ANALYSIS COMPARISON BETWEEN ALFAPENDULAR AND INTERCITY PORTUGUESE TRAINS AT THE NORTH RAIL

Abstract

Nowadays, trains are one of the most used public transportation modes. Comfort is the key to keeping and attracting new users. Vibration highly influences comfort levels and, once it is derived from the train motion it is stated as a primary concern. Due to contact with the seat and floor, passengers are subjected to whole-body vibration. ISO 2631 standard is fully dedicated to the evaluation of this type of vibration. Following its approach, the present research evaluates the comfort levels of Alfapendular and Intercity trains operating in Portugal at the Porto Campanhã – Lisbon Oriente connection. Measurements were performed at the beginning, middle, and end of the train, allowing a comparison between seat types within the same train and the same types from different trains. Results showed higher comfort levels for the Alfapendular trains, while for the Intercity train, both middle and end of train locations were ranked as “Little uncomfortable”. As a complementary analysis, it was observed the vibration transmission of the seat based on the Seat Effective Amplitude Transmissibility (SEAT). Results were above 100%, showing vibration amplification by all tested seats. Higher SEAT values were found for the Intercity train seat. This was the first study conducted on Portuguese trains regarding comfort analysis and vibration transmission. Keywords: Railways, Whole-body vibration, Vibration transmission, SEAT.