Evacuation Safety Analysis of Deep Underground Stations through Evacuation Simulation

Due to rapid urban expansion, the urban rail transit systems are increasingly complex with the rising number of operating lines, leading to larger and deeper underground stations. Stations with a depth exceeding 30 meters are classified as deep underground stations. In this study, the evacuation safety of a deep underground station was conducted by analyzing evacuation routes and times of a selected station. According to NFPA 130 standards, the platform evacuation time is required to be less than 4 minutes, and the station evacuation time to an external exit is under 6 minutes. However, meeting these requirements in deep underground stations is often impractical due to the extended evacuation distances. To mitigate this challenge, this study proposed designated evacuation safety zones and examined their impact on reducing evacuation times based on occupancy levels. The findings indicate that allocating safety zones for 33% of evacuees reduces total evacuation time by 20.94%. For effective and practical implementation, the establishment of evacuation safety zones should be complemented by an integrated monitoring and guidance system to enhance overall evacuation efficiency. The results of this study provide foundational insights for the “Development and validation of an Integrated Disaster Response Management System for High-Risk Deep Underground Railway Facilities.”