The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia

Larpruenrudee, P; Surawski, NC; Islam, MS

The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia

Larpruenrudee, P

Surawski, NC Islam, MS

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Publisher:: MDPI
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Atmosphere, 2022, 13, (5)
Issue Date:: 2022-05-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Larpruenrudee, P https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3413-3667
dc.contributor.author	Surawski, NC
dc.contributor.author	Islam, MS
dc.date.accessioned	2022-08-05T09:51:51Z
dc.date.available	2022-08-05T09:51:51Z
dc.date.issued	2022-05-01
dc.identifier.citation	Atmosphere, 2022, 13, (5)
dc.identifier.issn	1598-3560
dc.identifier.issn	2073-4433
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/159681
dc.description.abstract	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 PM2.5 and PM10 inside the train of T3 line in the daytime were slightly higher than in the nighttime. The differences in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations from these periods were around 6.8 µg/m3 and 12.1 µg/m3, 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.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	MDPI
dc.relation.ispartof	Atmosphere
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.3390/atmos13050759
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0401 Atmospheric Sciences, 0502 Environmental Science and Management
dc.title	The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	13
utslib.for	0401 Atmospheric Sciences
utslib.for	0502 Environmental Science and Management
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CTWW - Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater Treatment
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2022-08-05T09:51:49Z
pubs.issue	5
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	13
utslib.citation.issue	5

Abstract:

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 PM2.5 and PM10 inside the train of T3 line in the daytime were slightly higher than in the nighttime. The differences in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations from these periods were around 6.8 µg/m3 and 12.1 µg/m3, 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.

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