Change of acoustic characteristics caused by platform screen doors in train stations

Railway companies are encouraged to install platform screen doors (PSDs) for safety reason in Japan. The PSDs might affect train noises in stations, but the effects are not well understood. The aim of the present study is to clarify the effects of PSDs on acoustic characteristics. PSDs can be principally classified by two types, i.e., mobile full-height (MFH) and mobile half-height (MHH). Train noises were recorded in ground and underground train stations with MFH, MHH and without PSDs. The noises were evaluated by noise level, the maximum peak of the interaural cross-correlation function (IACC), and the width of the first decay (WΦ(0)) of the autocorrelation function. Noise level emitted by trains was reduced by PSDs in both aboveground and underground stations. IACC was decreased by PSDs in both ground and underground stations, suggesting that PSDs made train noises more diffused. WΦ(0) was decreased by PSDs in both ground and underground stations, which means that the train noises in station with PSDs have higher spectral centroid, suggesting that the PSDs blocked the lower frequency components of train noises.