The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia
Sydney Metro is the biggest project of Australia’s public transport, which was designed to provide passengers with more trains and faster services. This project was first implemented in 2017 and is planned to be completed in 2024. As presented, the project is currently in the construction stage loca...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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Series: | Atmosphere |
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/5/759 |
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author | Puchanee Larpruenrudee Nic C. Surawski Mohammad S. Islam |
author_facet | Puchanee Larpruenrudee Nic C. Surawski Mohammad S. Islam |
author_sort | Puchanee Larpruenrudee |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Sydney Metro is the biggest project of Australia’s public transport, which was designed to provide passengers with more trains and faster services. This project was first implemented in 2017 and is planned to be completed in 2024. As presented, the project is currently in the construction stage located on the ground stations of the Sydney Trains Bankstown line (T3). Based on this stage, several construction activities will generate air pollutants, which will affect the air quality around construction areas. Moreover, it might cause health problems to people around there and also the passengers who usually take the train on the T3 line. However, there is no specific data for air quality inside the train that may be affected by the construction from each area. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the air quality inside the train carriage of all related stations from the T3 line. A sampling campaign was conducted over 3 months to analyze particulate matter (PM) concentration, the main indoor pollutants including formaldehyde (HCHO) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC). The results of the T3 line were analyzed and compared to Airport & South line (T8) that were not affected by the project’s construction. The results of this study indicate that Sydney Metro construction activities insignificantly affected the air quality inside the train. Average PM<sub>2.5</sub> and PM<sub>10</sub> inside the train of T3 line in the daytime were slightly higher than in the nighttime. The differences in PM<sub>2.5</sub> and PM<sub>10</sub> concentrations from these periods were around 6.8 μg/m<sup>3</sup> and 12.1 μg/m<sup>3</sup>, respectively. The PM concentrations inside the train from the T3 line were slightly higher than the T8 line. However, these concentrations were still lower than those recommended by the national air quality standards. For HCHO and TVOC, the average HCHO and TVOC concentrations were less than the recommendation criteria. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:21:04Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-09977ede17fc471fa31b5e839ca5b351 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2073-4433 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:21:04Z |
publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Atmosphere |
spelling | doaj.art-09977ede17fc471fa31b5e839ca5b3512023-11-23T10:02:25ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332022-05-0113575910.3390/atmos13050759The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, AustraliaPuchanee Larpruenrudee0Nic C. Surawski1Mohammad S. Islam2School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, AustraliaCentre for Green Technology, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, AustraliaSchool of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, AustraliaSydney Metro is the biggest project of Australia’s public transport, which was designed to provide passengers with more trains and faster services. This project was first implemented in 2017 and is planned to be completed in 2024. As presented, the project is currently in the construction stage located on the ground stations of the Sydney Trains Bankstown line (T3). Based on this stage, several construction activities will generate air pollutants, which will affect the air quality around construction areas. Moreover, it might cause health problems to people around there and also the passengers who usually take the train on the T3 line. However, there is no specific data for air quality inside the train that may be affected by the construction from each area. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the air quality inside the train carriage of all related stations from the T3 line. A sampling campaign was conducted over 3 months to analyze particulate matter (PM) concentration, the main indoor pollutants including formaldehyde (HCHO) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC). The results of the T3 line were analyzed and compared to Airport & South line (T8) that were not affected by the project’s construction. The results of this study indicate that Sydney Metro construction activities insignificantly affected the air quality inside the train. Average PM<sub>2.5</sub> and PM<sub>10</sub> inside the train of T3 line in the daytime were slightly higher than in the nighttime. The differences in PM<sub>2.5</sub> and PM<sub>10</sub> concentrations from these periods were around 6.8 μg/m<sup>3</sup> and 12.1 μg/m<sup>3</sup>, respectively. The PM concentrations inside the train from the T3 line were slightly higher than the T8 line. However, these concentrations were still lower than those recommended by the national air quality standards. For HCHO and TVOC, the average HCHO and TVOC concentrations were less than the recommendation criteria.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/5/759PM concentrationsair quality analysisrailway transport systemPM<sub>2.5</sub>HCHOTVOC |
spellingShingle | Puchanee Larpruenrudee Nic C. Surawski Mohammad S. Islam The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia Atmosphere PM concentrations air quality analysis railway transport system PM<sub>2.5</sub> HCHO TVOC |
title | The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia |
title_full | The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia |
title_fullStr | The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia |
title_full_unstemmed | The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia |
title_short | The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia |
title_sort | effect of metro construction on the air quality in the railway transport system of sydney australia |
topic | PM concentrations air quality analysis railway transport system PM<sub>2.5</sub> HCHO TVOC |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/5/759 |
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