Influence of different conditions for tilt compensation on symptoms of motion sickness in tilting trains

Increased speeds of trains can be achieved by using tilting trains that decrease the lateral acceleration experienced by passengers on curves, thereby allowing trains to run typically 25-30% faster on existing curved track and maintaining good ride comfort. Unfortunately, motion sickness in tilting trains is a major problem for some passengers. To investigate the incidence of motion sickness and the extent to which different tilt compensation strategies influence its occurrence, tests were conducted with a tilting train on a track with a large number of curves. Eighty healthy volunteers were studied, selected partly for their susceptibility. Three different cars were evaluated during 3 test days, with each test ride lasting about 3 h. On four occasions per test ride, the subjects answered a questionnaire concerning activities during the ride, ride comfort, ability to work and read, vegetative symptoms, fatigue, sleepiness, nausea and well-being. Subjects estimation of average ride comfort and ability to work and read was good in all conditions. However, 10% of the test subjects reported various symptoms of motion sickness (SMS). A 55% degree of tilt compensation of the lateral acceleration instead of the normal 70% reduced the symptoms of motion sickness incidence (SMSI) by 25-40%. SMSI correlated poorly with motion doses, which integrates vertical or lateral acceleration but correlated well with roll acceleration motion dose (r(2) = 0.43, p < 0.001). For women, riding backward (p < 0.001) minimized SMSI, but men were insensitive to direction. Future railway design will have to optimize tilt systems by both minimizing motion sickness and avoiding excessive lateral acceleration or jerk. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.