Acoustic comfort at Kyiv metro stations

Abstract

Kyiv Metro was opened in 1960 and became the first metro system in Ukraine. From then until the beginning of the 21st century it was developing without considering the acoustic comfort of its passengers and employees. Increased levels of noise and vibration in public transport are mostly ignored, although they are certainly recognized as the reasons for increasing the harmfulness of work for metro employees. The present report analyzes noise levels at metro stations depending on their design features. There are several main types of stations in the Kyiv metro: deep-lying, shallow-lying, as well as above-ground stations. For all types of underground stations, there are options both with and without sound-absorbing finishes. Also, during the construction of the newest stations of the Kyiv metro, vibration isolation systems were used for the construction of the permanent way were used. Within this study, sound pressure levels were measured on the platform at stations of various types. These measurements made it possible to establish a significant influence of the shape of the station vestibule, the presence of sound-absorbing finishes in it, as well as the vibration isolation of the permanent way, on the objective and subjective parameters of acoustic comfort for passengers and employees of the subway.