Piston effect platforms with a single tunnel, however, air quality worsens when relying on the piston effect alone for ventilation. This still allows for potential energy savings by taking advantage of the piston effect rather than mechanical ventilation where possible. Tunnel boom is a loud boom sometimes generated by high-speed trains when they exit tunnels. These shock waves can disturb nearby residents and damage trains and nearby structures. The perception of this sound by humans is similar to that of a sonic boom from supersonic aircraft, but unlike a sonic boom, tunnel boom is not caused by trains exceeding the speed of
Piston effect sound. Instead, tunnel boom results from the structure of the tunnel preventing the air around the train from escaping in all directions. As a train passes through a tunnel, it generates compression waves in front of it. These waves coalesce into a shock wave that generates a loud boom when it reaches the tunnel exit. The strength of this wave is proportional to the cube of the train's speed, so the effect is much more pronounced with faster trains. Tunnel boom can disturb residents near the mouth of the tunnel, and it is exacerbated in mountain valleys where the sound