Keywords: thermal environment, thermal comfort, main line vehicle, field measurement, subjective experiment, comfort range, Standard New Effective Temperature, Predicted Mean Vote, Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied.

The relation between the thermal environment and thermal comfort of passengers in a main line rail carriage was investigated. Field measurements and a subjective experiment were performed. Field studies measured the temperature and humidity in main line vehicles during regular passenger service, and their variation was investigated. In the subjective experiment, nineteen subjects wearing identical clothing were placed in a sitting position in a static main line vehicle and were asked to record their thermal comfort level. Based on the results, regression equations linking thermal comfort to the Standard New Effective Temperature Index were derived, and a comparison was made with earlier studies conducted in a climatic chamber.

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