Abstract
The environmental impacts of noise and vibration are becoming increasingly important in the assessment of new and upgraded railway routes. Vibration from railways propagates through the ground to nearby buildings where it may cause annoyance as feelable vibration or as re-radiated noise. To tackle the adverse effects of ground-borne noise a range of possible interventions are available, including softer rail pads, under-sleeper pads and under-ballast mats. The installation costs of such interventions are generally higher for the higher-performing track types. Additionally, there are potential effects on track maintenance costs which may be positive or negative, for example by reducing sleeper damage or increasing the need for ballast tamping. This study presents a socio-economic analysis of the effects of several interventions to reduce ground-borne noise. By selecting a whole route, the installation and whole-life costs are assessed using Network Rail’s Vehicle-Track Interaction Strategic Model (VTISM) and these are offset against benefits in terms of reduced social costs. Ground-borne noise is predicted at various distances from the alignment using the Modelling of Train Induced Vibration (MOTIV) model and the effect of track interventions is determined as insertion loss spectra. The re-radiated noise within a typical domestic building is then estimated using generic building transfer functions. Geographic Information System tools are used to estimate the population affected by ground-borne noise and their expected level of exposure. The methodology is illustrated using a case study route between Brighton and Portsmouth in the South of England.
Highlights
The railway in Britain has experienced something of a renaissance over recent decades
Only the installation of soft under-sleeper pads (USPs) on ground type 1 could be justified on the basis of ground-borne noise reduction alone
If investment for the entire route is budgeted in 2009, and it is assumed that no further installations will be needed over the 60-year period, the social benefits arising from soft USPs or Under-Ballast Mat (UBM) on ground types 1 and 2 would be sufficient to offset the investment
Summary
The railway in Britain has experienced something of a renaissance over recent decades. Passenger journeys have almost doubled in 20 years (up from 0.89 billion in 1998/99 to 1.76 billion in 2018/191) and the number of passenger train kilometres travelled has increased 6.6% since 2010/11.2 there has only been a very modest increase in total route length open to traffic, with an additional 70 km (0.4%) since 2010/ 11.3 This means that more trains are running along the same infrastructure, resulting in higher maintenance costs due to more rapid degradation of track.[4] Britain has the most congested network in Europe,[5] accounting for 40% of total congested track in the EU,[6] and parts of the network have reached capacity limits This severely restricts the opportunities to access the track for maintenance without causing disruption to services. In an assessment of the installation of USPs on the London to Waterloo route,[10] it was assumed that everyone living within 80 m of the track would experience the same
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
