Sometimes subway stations and trains can be very crowded for large passenger flows. However, some stations and trains may be vulnerable when natural or man-made disasters happen, thus the safety of passengers and stuff is threatened. Therefore, it is meaningful to make a deep analysis to these disasters that may happen in subway stations and trains. By collecting cases of accidents include fire disaster, terrorist attack, flood, earthquake and stampede that happened in subway stations or on trains around the world, the causes, consequence and their own characters were analysed. Besides, some recommendations and beneficial measures aim to prevent these disasters mentioned above were also presented and discussed.

In order to ensure the safety of passengers using metro stations and staff working at them, some cities choose to set security checks at the entrances of metro stations. There is no doubt that security check can help keep dangerous objects out of a metro station. However, the security check can also slow down the entering speed of passenger flow and lead to congestions that may affect passengers’ travel plans. How security check will impact the passenger flow and how to reduce the impact are questions that need to be addressed. In this study, metro station models were constructed using the building structure and passenger flow data of a realistic metro station in Guangzhou, China. By using the AnyLogic simulation software, the traffic characteristics of passenger flow under the scenarios with and without a security check were compared and discussed. The congested areas in the station hall and possible causes were analyzed. In addition, possible improving measures such as adding security check machines and ticket vending machines were also modeled to test their effectiveness on reducing the congestion in the station. Results show that when security checks are set at each entrance of the station being studied, the flow rate of passengers entering the gate machine could be decreased by 49.4%~83.3%, which can cause serious congestion at the entrance during rush hours. By adding security check machines and ticket vending machines at the entrances with high passenger traffic demands, the congestion near these entrances could be greatly reduced.

After the Guangsan expressway in China was widened in 2010–2012, many longitudinal cracks and partial drop-offs appeared in the pavement of both the existing road and the new road. This situation is at odds with the traditional understanding that pavement distress should arise only in the area connecting the new road with the existing one. By considering (a) the geological conditions, (b) how soft clay consolidates and (c) settlement data acquired while the new embankment was being constructed, the following hypothesis is proposed: the additional load applied by the new embankment filling on the existing road foundation caused uneven settlement of the latter, thus causing the existing pavement to crack. A numerical model of the highway widening is established based on the actual project, and the hypothesis is verified by analysing the ground surface settlement and the horizontal displacement in the deep foundation.

With rapid urbanization, traffic growth has accelerated in some cities in China. Due to strict urban construction land utilization policies, many high-rise apartment buildings have been constructed adjacent to expressways. To better understand the impact of urban traffic noise on the residents of high residential buildings adjacent to expressways and the differences in noise impacts on different floors, on-site noise monitoring and questionnaires for building residents have been conducted. The characteristics of traffic noise were analyzed based on the measured data, and factors, including time periods and building floors, were considered. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, 56.06% of the male respondents and 54.55% of the female respondents think that the impact of traffic noise on high-rise buildings is “high” or “very high”; 50.53% of the respondents who were in “good” or “very good” condition thought that the traffic noise has a “significant impact” or “very significant impact” on their sleep and daily life. In addition, 25% of respondents living on floors 4–10 and 62.5% of respondents living on floors 11–20 considered the traffic noise to have a “significant impact” or “very significant impact” on their sleep and daily life. The on-site noise monitoring results show that the noise levels (L_Aeq) outside the windows of the studied buildings remain significantly elevated, with daytime noise on working days ranging from 56 to 70 dB(A), and on weekends ranging from 50 to 65 dB(A). During the four time periods on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., the average L_Aeq levels on floors 11–20 are higher than those on floors 4–10 by 4.04 dB(A), 4.92 dB(A), 4.06 dB(A), and 2.67 dB(A), respectively. Similarly, during these time periods on weekends, the levels on floors 11–20 are higher than those on floors 4–10 by 4.96 dB(A), 6.32 dB(A), 5.28 dB(A), and 5.24 dB(A), respectively. This indicates that floors 4–10 of the building experience relatively lower noise levels, while floors 11–20 are subjected to comparatively higher levels of noise disturbance.

To better utilise the service capacity of the limited facilities of a metro station, as well as ensure safety and transport efficiency during peak hours, a large passenger flow control plan is studied through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. Firstly, by passenger data collection and data analysis, the characteristics of the inbound and outbound passenger flow of a T metro station are analysed. Secondly, AnyLogic evacuation simulation models for the T Station during peak hours, peak hours without/with passenger flow control are established based on real passenger flow data as well as the station structures and layouts by using the AnyLogic software. The results show that there are no obvious congestions in the station hall, and the travel delay is significantly reduced when effective passenger flow control measures are taken. By controlling the speed, direction and movement path of passengers, as well as adjusting the operation of escalators, entrances and automatic ticket-checking machines, passenger flow can become more orderly, transport efficiency can also be improved, and congestion in the station can be well mitigated.