Railway noise

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Noise is a serious environmental side effect of rail transport, particularly freight transport. However, technological developments have already been made that would allow the situation to be drastically improved, and at a much lower costs than currently spent on construction and maintenance of noise barriers. The estimated magnitude of the savings due to increased cost-efficiency of source measures over barriers and insulation measures runs to hundreds of millions of euros in several EU countries [1].

Railway noise stems from the friction between rough wheels and tracks. The rails can be made smoother by ‘polishing’, and the vibrations which cause noise can be minimised with rail dampers, which are lengths of elastic material fixed to the rails. Wheels can be kept smoother using brake blocks made of composite materials, rather than standard cast-iron brake blocks which roughen the wheel surface. Composite brake blocks are found to reduce noise by 8-10dB(A) [1] Measures taken on both the wheels and the rails are complementary. By using both, the improvement will be dramatic.

Hear the difference!
This video shows a train pulling wagons fitted with two types of brake block. Note the very significant difference in noise levels between the first four (red) wagons with standard GG blocks and the later wagons with low-noise K blocks.

Composite brake blocks should be fitted as standard to new railway wagons. However, the life span of rail wagons can be decades, so it takes a very long time for new innovations to filter into the whole fleet and make an audible difference. Action therefore also needs to be taken to retrofit the quieter blocks. on the current rolling stock. Of around 600,000 freight wagons in Europe [1], those traveling most frequently on routes near densely populated areas should be prioritized to achieve audible results as quickly as possible.

The question remains unanswered as to who should foot the bill for this retrofitting, and whether national funding would breach state aid rules. The European Commission will investigate this issue and is due to produce a communication in late 2007.

The EU can play a pivotal role in railway noise regulation via directives on charges and capacity allocation, interoperability in rail transport [2] and the creation of technical standards for interoperability (TSI), which include noise standards for equipment and railway infrastructures [3]. The TSI which sets noise emission limits for high-speed trains recommends that the mandatory limits should be reduced for vehicles put into service from 2008. This recommendation will be the basis for the revision of the limit values.

The Commission adopted a technical specification for interoperability relating to rolling stock noise for conventional rolling stock in 2006 (2006/66/EC) [4]. The TSI document states that the Commission will consider options for retrofitting of freight wagons for noise reduction with stakeholders and the rail industry. TSIs include noise limits for starting noise, constant speed and stationary vehicles as well as a track specification.

New or upgraded railway infratructues must be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (Directive 85/337/EC), which must include noise levels perceived by neighbours along the infrastructure are within nationally defined levels. The noise level generated by the trans-European high-speed rail system should remain acceptable for its surroundings and be kept within limits suitable to protect neighbouring populations and their activities.

Railway infrastructure charges may be modified to take account of the cost of the environmental impact of train operations, including noise (Directive 2001/14/EC). Setting and levying of railway infrastructure charges and the allocation of railway
infrastructure capacity must be differentiated according to the magnitude of the effect caused.

References

[1] UIC & CER: Oertli, J. and Huebner, P. (July 2006), Rail Freight Noise Abatement – A report on the state of the art, p.6, Union International des Chemins de Fer, Paris, France
[2] Directives on railway interoperability for high-speed rail (Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system, OJ L 235, 17.9.1996) and conventional rail (Directive 2001/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001 on the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system OJ L 110, 20.4.2001) and Commission decision 2002/735/EC of 30 May 2002 concerning the technical specification for interoperability relating to the rolling stock subsystem of the trans-European high-speed rail system referred to in Article 6(1) of Directive 96/48/EC, OJ L 245, 12.9.2002
[3] TSIs are elaborated by the European Railway Agency
[4] Commission Decision C(2005)5666 of 23 Dec 2005, OJ L 37/1, 08.02.2006.

Railway noise

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