Action plans for railway noise. Noise control options and their effectiveness

Abstract

The Environmental Noise Directive, 2002/49/EC, requires EC Member States to produce Action Plans to manage noise issues and effects, including noise reduction if necessary. They may include traffic planning, land-use planning, technical measures at source, selection of quieter sources, reduction of sound transmission and regulatory or economic measures or incentives. A number of technical and operational options are available to the railway industry in order to address the Action-Planning requirements of the Directive. This paper presents the available options and discusses their likely effectiveness and practicality within an operational railway environment. Reference is made to recent and historic developments in railway noise control, and to a new "noise trajectory" study carried out for the GB railway industry by the Rail Safety and Standards Board with DeltaRail's technical support. This study has tested the perception of historic trends in noise reduction and has modelled future scenarios, showing that increases in traffic volume and speed are largely balanced by projected vehicle noise reductions, leading to no significant increase in impact for the exposed population as rail usage grows.