自从日本东海道线开通以来，人们对高铁旅行的兴趣大大增加。在一些国家，人们效仿了日本修建全新轨道的例子，例如意大利时速250公里的罗马-佛罗伦萨线（5）。在其他方面，特别是英国，其200公里/小时的高速列车和随后的250公里/小时的先进旅客列车，重点放在发展的车辆能够实现高速现有轨道上，只有轻微的升级。因此，有必要考虑现有隧道的修改，以及在处理增加的行驶速度时新隧道的设计。本论文的重点在于此类修改，但讨论也直接适用于新隧道的经济设计。在长隧道内提供足够通风所涉及的困难相当大。 另一方面，压力波作用的影响相对较小。相比之下，当隧道较短时，通风要求要低得多，但压力波作用可能非常重要。压力波通常在列车的前部和后部进入或离开隧道时产生。每一个波都以大约音速通过隧道，在对面的入口反射，然后沿着隧道返回，最后再次被反射。因此，火车在一个突然发生巨大压力变化的环境中行驶。引用:研讨会，ASHRAE交易，第83卷，第2部分，哈利法克斯，北卡罗来纳州

Since the opening of the Japanese Tokaido line, interest in high speed rail travel has greatly increased. In some countries, the Japanese example of building an entirely new track has been followed, for example the 250 km/hr Rome-Florence line in Italy (5). In others, notably the U.K. with its 200 km/hr High Speed Train and later its 250 km/hr Advanced Passenger Train, emphasis has been placed on the development of vehicles capable of achieving the high speeds on existing track, subject to only minor upgrading. As a result, it is necessary to consider the modification of existing tunnels as well as the design of new tunnels when dealing with the increased travel speeds. The emphasis of the present paper is placed on such modifications, but the discussion is also directly applicable to the economic design of new tunnels.The difficulties involved in providing adequate ventilation in long tunnels are considerable. On the other hand, the effects of pressure wave action are relatively slight. In contrast, when a tunnel is short, ventilation is a far less demanding problem, but pressure wave action can be of great importance. Pressure waves are typically generated when the front and rear of a train enter or leave a tunnel. Each wave passes along the tunnel at approximately the speed of sound, reflects at the opposite portal, and travels back along the tunnel, only to be again reflected. Trains therefore travel through an environment in which sudden and large pressure changes occur.