SOUTH KOREA: Korea Railroad Research Institute has developed a train which can remove fine dust from metro tunnels to improve the air quality for passengers.
The train was unveiled at KRRI’s research centre in Osong on August 31, at an event which included representatives of 50 government and other organisations, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport, national passenger operator Korail and urban transport operators from Seoul, Incheon, Daegu, Gwangju and Daejeon.
KRRI says that the operating the train for 8 h/day for one month could collect 3·5 kg of fine dust, equivalent to the amount inhaled by three adults in their lifetime.
The train uses the existing power supply rather than battery or diesel power and can operate in either direction at up to 70 km/h, enabling it to run between trains in passenger service.
The dust collection equipment incorporates automatic cleaning to reduce maintenance requirements.
Park Deok-shin, head of the KRRI’s Transportation Environment Research Department, said testing is planned to enable the commercialisation of the design.
‘High speed, high capacity fine dust collection trains are a technology that protects people’s health’, said KRRI President Han Seok-yoon. ‘We will continue to work harder to develop public transport technology that can benefit the public and solve current issues.’
