WO1998022323A1

WO1998022323A1 - A carriage for underground urban transport in a tunnel of essentially circular section, and associated system

Info

Publication number: WO1998022323A1
Application number: PCT/IT1996/000221
Authority: WO
Inventors: Fortunato Tito Arecchi
Original assignee: Universita' Degli Studi Di Firenze
Priority date: 1996-11-22
Filing date: 1996-11-22
Publication date: 1998-05-28
Also published as: AU7709296A

Abstract

The bulk of the carriage (22) in cross section is essentially in the form of a circular segment which has a vertically orientated base and contains the centre; the vertical wall (22A) forms the openings for entry and for exit at the level of the transit platforms.

Description

"A CARRIAGE FOR UNDERGROUND URBAN TRANSPORT IN A TUNNEL OF ESSENTIALLY CIRCULAR SECTION, AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEM"

DESCRIPTION The invention relates to a carriage for underground urban transport in a tunnel, which allows easy and rational creation of a system for an urban underground railway and which also allows easy working underground. These and other aims and advantages will become clear from the following text.

Essentially, the carriage in question is characterized in that it has a cross-section, that is to say the outline, essentially in the form of a circular segment which has a vertically orientated base and contains the centre. In short, the arc subtended by the base, that is to say the arc which delimits the section essentially in the form of a circular segment, can be of roughly 240°. The carriage is made with the vertical wall - which corresponds to the base of the circular segment - which forms openings for entry and for exit which are also of very large dimensions to facilitate and accelerate entry and exit by the passengers; a single row of seats - in particular side by side - is advantageously provided, which extends on the side opposite said wall.

The invention also relates to a system for urban transport in an underground tunnel of essentially circular section, using a carriage according to the above definition. In said system, the diameter of the section of the tunnel is slightly greater than that of the circular segment of the section of the carriage; that part of the tunnel of which the section corresponds to the circular segment complementary to that occupied by the bulk of the section of the carriage is used to create a service and emergency walkway along the entire route.

The level of the floor of the carriages corresponds to the level of the platforms of the stations and also advantageously to the level of the service and emergency walkway.

The invention will be better understood following the description and the attached drawing which shows a non- limiting exemplary embodiment of the invention itself. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a diagram of four annular circuits ;

Fig. 2 shows in cross-section a comparative diagram of the dimensions of tunnels for underground railways;

Figs 3 and 4 show a plan view of a station with tracks side by side and a local section along IV- IV in Fig. 3. In Fig. 1, a possible system plan is shown for which a carriage according to the invention is suitable. It comprises a sequence of polygons A, B, C and D, each of which represents the single track of an annular circuit, at the vertices of which stopping stations generally indicated by S are symbolized. At least one of the stations of each circuit is common to a station of an adjacent station and is a double station indicated by SD . The distances between adjacent stations S can be equal to the sum of the radii of circles CE, each of which represents a surface which can be reached by a convenient limited journey on foot from the station S or SD which is located at the centre of the circle; the various circles can be tangential. Considering circuit B which comprises six stations, two of which are double SD, in practice a wide area surrounding the annular route B is covered by the limited journey on foot and, by an extended limited journey it is possible to reach the intermediate area inside the polygon B also. In each of the routes A, B, C, D, one or more trains can circulate always in the same direction and with suitable frequency; the various trains will have a number of carriages and in any case a capacity which is proportioned to the traffic requirements of the area served by the annular track in question. The traffic in the various annular circuits such as A, B, C, D is synchronized in such a manner that a train of each of the two annular circuits having a station SD in common stops simultaneously in the station SD in question. Considering Fig. 3 which can for example be the station SD in which the circuits B and C are tangential, the stopping of the trains such as 10 and 11 takes place on the two sides of a common platform 13 which can be transited by passengers who are leaving a train, who are boarding a train, who are passing from one train to the other (that is to say from the train 10 to the train 11 or vice versa) , who are arriving at the station, and who are leaving the station making use of lifts such as those indicated by 15 and 17. The lifts serve for movement between the outside and the platform 13. Service and emergency- stairs such as 19 will also be provided. The frequency of the journeys in each annular route will be relatively high and in each period of the day proportioned to the requirements of the areas served by each route. In each case, the frequency can also be very high while the dimensions of the individual vehicles can be relatively limited.

In Fig. 4, a station is shown in section such as that of which the platform is indicated by 13, which extends to the track 20, on which the outline of a carriage 22, made according to the invention, is shown in Fig. 4.

The tunnel 24 can have a circular section of a relatively very limited diameter, for example even of the order of 4 metres .

Each carriage 22 has a profile in section which is in part circular and generally contained in a circular segment with a base 22A (according to the mathematical definition) , the base being orientated vertically and the segment also including the centre. The vertical base 22A can easily form wide openings for the entry and exit of the travellers; in front of the wall 22A, a row of seats 25 can be arranged, which does not constitute an obstacle to the movements of the passengers on foot on the floor 22B of the carriage. The movements on entry and exit are very easy as a result of the breadth which can be imparted to the openings formed in the wall 22A and which will be equipped with automatically operable doors.

The size in section of a tunnel such as 24 can be very much smaller in relation to the dimensions of tunnels which are currently provided, such as a conventional underground railway tunnel which is indicated for comparison by 26 and of a diameter of the order of 9 metres, and also an underground railway tunnel of new design indicated by 28 which is also double track and of a diameter of the order of 6.5 metres. The saving in cost and the ease of making a tunnel such as that indicated by 24 allow extremely rapid and economical design and implementation of the works .

Claims

1. A carriage for underground urban transport in a tunnel of essentially circular section, the bulk of which carriage in cross-section is essentially in the form of a circular segment which has a vertically orientated base and contains the centre.

2. Carriage according to Claim 1, in which the arc which delimits the section in the form of a circular segment is of roughly 240°.

3. Carriage according to Claim 1 or 2 , in which its vertical wall, which corresponds to the base of the circular segment, forms the openings for entry and for exit, and in which a row of seats - in particular side_, by side - extends on the side opposite said wall.

4. A system for urban transport in an underground tunnel of essentially circular section, using a carriage according to one of Claims 1 to 3 , in which the diameter of the section of the tunnel is slightly greater than that of the circular segment of the section of the carriage, and in which that part of the tunnel of which the section corresponds to the circular segment complementary to that occupied by the bulk of the section of the carriage is used to create a service and emergency walkway along the entire route.

5. System according to Claim 4, in which the level of the floor of the carriages corresponds to the level of the platforms of the stations and also advantageously to the level of the service and emergency walkway.