Underground station lighting

The subway is one of the most interesting areas in terms of lighting.
Properly selected light not only neutralizes the negative impact of the enclosed space, but also emphasizes the architectural features of the metro station. As you know, a brightly lit ceiling and walls help to visually expand the boundaries of any space, so at metro stations it is recommended to provide sufficient illumination not only at floor level, but also at the level of walls and ceiling. This will help to avoid the appearance of psychological discomfort.
The high illumination of the platform allows the driver of the metro train to see all passengers and thus increase the safety of train traffic. Metro stations mainly use uniform general lighting, as well as localized working lighting, hidden (cornice) lighting and directional light that emphasizes architectural features and design elements in the design.

Minimum metro lighting requirements:

• Closed stations, platform and middle part of the hall, ticket office - 200 lx;
• pre-excalator part, escalator combs, flights of stairs, corridors between stations – 100 lx;
• corridors and passages - 75 lux;
• tunnel zone 150 m in front of the platform and 25 m after - 25 lux;
• service platform in a dead-end tunnel - 30 lx;
• sections of the tunnel in front of the portal, depending on the length (from 5 to 150 m) - from 20 to 1000 lx.
  
  

  The main objectives of lighting in the subway:

  • - emphasize the architectural features of the stations with the help of light;
  • - to increase the level of illumination of stations to provide passengers and employees of the subway with comfortable conditions. Bright lighting expands the space visually, which helps to relieve the psychological discomfort of being underground;
  • - save energy through the use of energy-saving lighting devices.
  
  Recently, modern metro stations are built only with LED lighting. Also, old stations are gradually replacing old lamps with new, LED ones. LED lighting is several times superior to gas discharge, fluorescent, sodium and incandescent lamps in terms of such criteria as:
  • energy consumption;
  • life time;
  • intensity of light waves;
  • spectrum quality;
  • safety of use.
  Emergency lighting fixtures are installed in the metro tunnel, which are turned on for the work of repair teams and the evacuation of passengers in emergency situations.