Comparative Analysis and Pedestrian Simulation Evaluation on Emergency Evacuation Test Methods for Urban Rail Transit Stations

Abstract

The emergency evacuation test method of rail transit station not only affects the operation safety of the station, but it also has significant influence on the scale and cost of the station. A reasonable test method should guarantee both the safety of evacuation and that the investment is neither excessive nor too conservative. The paper compares and analyzes the differences of the existing emergency evacuation test methods of rail stations in China and other regions on the evacuation load, evacuation time calculation and the capacity of egress components, etc. Based on the field survey analysis, the desired velocity distribution of pedestrians in various station facilities and the capacity of egress components have been obtained, and then the parameters of pedestrian simulation tool were calibrated. By selecting a station for the case study, an evacuation simulation model has been established, where five evacuation scenarios have been set according to different specifications and the simulation results have been carefully analyzed. Through analyzing the simulation results, some modification proposals of the current emergency evacuation test method in the design manual have been considered, including taking into account the section passenger volume, walking time on escalators and stairs of the platform, and the condition in which the escalator most critical to evacuation should be considered as out of service.