United States Department of Transportation
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Safety of High Speed Guided Ground Transportation Systems: Magnetic and Electric Field Testing of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Urban Transit System: Volume I: Analysis
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1993-06-01
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[PDF-7.23 MB]
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Alternative Title:Safety of High Speed Guided Ground Transportation Systems: Magnetic and Electric Field Testing;of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Urban Transit System Volume I - Analysis [TRDP Title];
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Edition:Final Report September 1992 - March 1993
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Abstract: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 projects (e.g. in Orlando, FL, and Pittsburgh, PA) and high speed rail (the French Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) in the Texas Triangle). 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 (de) 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 MBTA transit system was performed, as part of a comprehensive comparative EMF assessment of the German Transrapid (TR-07) maglev system with other existing and advanced rail systems. This 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 electrotechnologies used in this transit system (3rd rail dc, catenary with pantograph, trolley bus). Each electrotechnology has specific EMF frequency signatures. EMF data represent a range of system operating conditions and locations (in vehicles, stations and waysides), as well as traffic control and electrical power supply facilities. A portable magnetic field monitoring system (augmented to include an electric fields probe) was used to sample, record and store 3 axis static and ac magnetic fields waveforms simultaneously, at multiple locations. A real time Digital Audio Tape (DAT) recorder able to capture EMF transients, and two personal power-frequency magnetic field monitors were used to collect complementary data. Both dc magnetic fields and EMF ELF field levels for the MBTA system are comparable to those produced by common environmental sources at home, work, and under power lines, but they are more variable in time.
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