Geothermal Cooling For New York’s Subways

You might think that if you dug some tunnels down into the ground where you could be out of the sunshine, that you might find them to be relatively cool …. Geothermal Cooling For New York’s Subways. Yet, fill those tunnels with trains and supporting equipment and millions of commuters, and you’ll instead find yourself sweltering in the heat.

New York’s subways are too hot for comfort, and have been for some time. Unfortunately, unlike any old regular building, you can’t just air condition a subway and call it done. Instead, authorities are looking for other solutions to beat the heat on the famous underground transit network.

Steal My Sunshine The problem of excess heat is not unique to the New York subway. Similar issues are found in underground rail systems around the world; the London Underground is infamously hot and uncomfortable, to the point one section is referred to as the Central Heat Line. The cause is simple enough—heat pours off the trains, their motors, their brakes, and even commuters, and it builds up in the system.