Nocturnal vibration and noise from freight trains impacts sleep

Abstract

There is a proposed increase in the number of freight trains on the European railway networks, with this growth being facilitated trough using the available night time periods. Freight trains are particularly problematic with regards to generation of low frequency vibration and noise which has the potential to propagate to nearby homes and influence the sleep of residents. To investigate the potential impact we conducted a laboratory trial on 24 young healthy persons to ascertain physiological and psychological reactions to nocturnal vibration and noise from freight traffic, and to examine differences between gender and noise sensitivity. Nights with moderate (0.0102 m/s2) and high (0.0204 m/s2) maximum Wd weighted vibration amplitudes and low (20) and high (36) number of train passages were simulated with noise levels being of the same order between nights. Polysomnography was used to record sleep stage and EEG arousals and awakenings. Event-related cardiac activations were analysed using ECG recordings. Questionnaires were administered to obtain subjective sleep parameters. Sleep was more fragmented during nights with higher vibration amplitudes and number of events. Furthermore, heart rate response was higher in the high vibration condition. Results from the subjective data showed less discrimination between nights. © 2013 Acoustical Society of America.