In this work we discussed the safety of the electric field environment in the No.3 carriage where the pantograph is located. DSA380 pantograph, CRH5 EMU carriage and passengers’ models were established to study the electric field exposure of passengers at different positions. The results showed that E_max in the carriage without passengers is 1.173 x 10 ⁶ mV/m. Then we set the passengers’ positions according to the electric field distribution in the carriage without passengers and obtained that E_max in the carriage with passengers is 3.195 x 10 ⁶ mV/m. It can be seen that the maximum induced electric field intensity of passengers at different positions appears on the soles of shoes, the maximum value is 3.028 x 105 mV/m, the maximum induced current density occurs at the ankle, its maximum value is 3.476 x 10 ^-5 A/m ². It can be concluded that the maximum induced electric field intensity of passenger’s head appears in the cerebrospinal fluid area, with a maximum value of 202.817 mV/m, and the maximum induced electric field intensity of passenger’s head at the door is larger than that in the middle of the carriage. The maximum values of the induced electric field intensity in all tissues of passengers are much smaller than the basic limits of electromagnetic exposure to the public set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). This study indicated that the pantograph has little influence on the electric field environment in the carriage under working state, and will not cause any health hazard to the passengers in this working frequency electric field environment.

Under sleeper pads (USPs) are resilient elements used in the ballasted track structures to improve dynamic behaviour of the track, reduce vibration and protect the ballast against fast degradation. As the elements permanently connected to the sleepers or turnout bearers, the pads must have an appropriate level of pull-off strength, so that they do not separate from the rail support (here: sleeper) during their transportation to the construction site or during many years of operation. In this paper, results of pull-off tests performed on four selected USP samples are presented: three samples made of SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber) granulate and one made of polyurethane. Moreover, details of the pad’s attachment to the rail support are discussed, and the requirements for the USP properties are specified, focusing on the pull-off strength determined after the weather resistance test. It is shown that only two out of four considered USP samples fulfilled the requirements specified by the authors.