Abstract
This study investigated the effects of railway elevation, operation of a new station, and earthquakes on railway noise annoyance in two areas along a conventional railway line (CRL) adjacent to the Kyushu Shinkansen line: the north area with the CRL elevation and the south area with the operation of the new station, both of which occurred in March 2016. In April 2016, Kumamoto region was struck by a series of large earthquakes, prompting their inclusion in this study, as frequent aftershocks with loud ground rumbling might make people more sensitive to railway noise and vibration. Socioacoustic surveys were performed in both areas before and after the earthquakes. Because very few respondents in the north area reported that they were “highly annoyed,” further analysis was conducted on data from the south area. The exposure–annoyance relationship was found to be significantly higher in 2017 than in 2011 despite lower noise exposure. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that Lden, noise sensitivity, and serious damage by the earthquakes in addition to the operation of the new station significantly affected the annoyance in both detached and apartment houses. However, when the earthquakes caused minimal damage, they did not significantly affect annoyance.
Highlights
The Shinkansen railway network has been developed throughout Japan since the Tokaido Shinkansen line started operating in 1964
As part of the development of the Shinkansen network, the Kyushu Shinkansen line (KSL) that operates from Fukuoka to Kagoshima via Kumamoto, which is the midpoint between the two cities, was opened in 2011
The most important findings in this study are that minimal damage caused by the earthquakes did not significantly affect the level of annoyance of the residents of detached and apartment houses, whereas serious damage significantly affected the annoyance of the residents of both house types in the south area
Summary
The Shinkansen (super express) railway network has been developed throughout Japan since the Tokaido Shinkansen line started operating in 1964. As part of the development of the Shinkansen network, the Kyushu Shinkansen line (KSL) that operates from Fukuoka to Kagoshima via Kumamoto, which is the midpoint between the two cities, was opened in 2011. The CRL was elevated in March 2016 in the north area, and a new station was opened in March 2016 in the south area. Such situations caused step changes in railway noise exposure in the areas along the railway lines; the railway elevation with noise barriers reduces noise exposure near the barriers by diffraction, and the operation of the new station reduces noise emissions as. Public Health 2018, 15, 1417; doi:10.3390/ijerph15071417 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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