Scientific paper ID 1514 : 2017/3

Public urban transport, and in particular the rail transport (trams and metro), play a major role in the mobility of the population in major cities. Ensuring quality lighting in these rail vehicles is essential for the visual comfort for the passengers. The development of the LED technologies in the last 10 years has created prerequisites for their wider application in the construction of lighting systems in the vehicles of the public transport.

The report presents the results of a study on the condition of the lighting systems in the tramcars and metro trains exploited in Sofia. Technical solutions for their modernization were analyzed by the use of LED light sources. With the help of computer based models of the different types of trams and metro wagons, the expected quantitative indicators of the lighting were precisely analyzed. Measurements carried out under real operating conditions have revealed the realized quantitative indicators after modernization of the lighting in a part of the tramcars. The results of the lighting calculations and experimental measurements are presented in graphical and tabular form. A brief analysis of the more significant effects of the modernization of the lighting systems in the tramcars and the expected one for the future modernization in the metro trains of the Sofia metro was also made.