Abstract
This paper describes an assessment of noise caused by railway traffic in a large Latin American city. Measurements were taken of noise levels generated by trains passing through residential neighborhoods with and without blowing their horns. Noise maps were also calculated showing noise pollution generated by the train traffic. In addition - annoyance of the residents - affected by railway noise, was evaluated based on interviews. The measurements indicated that the noise levels generated by the passage of the train with its horn blowing are extremely high, clearly exceeding the daytime limits of equivalent sound pressure level - Leq = 55 dB(A) - established by the municipal laws No 10.625 of the city of Curitiba. The Leq = 45 dB (A) which is the limit for the night period also are exceeded during the passage of trains. The residents reported feeling affected by the noise generated by passing trains, which causes irritability, headaches, poor concentration and insomnia, and 88% of them claimed that nocturnal noise pollution is the most distressing. This study showed that the vast majority of residents surveyed, (69%) believe that the noise of the train can devalue their property.
Highlights
Noise pollution today is no longer restricted to industrial environments but affects small, medium and large cities all over the world
This paper describes an assessment of the annoyance caused by railway noise in a large Latin American city, based on noise measurements, noise mapping, and interviews
Materials and methods The environmental impact generated by railway noise in the city of Curitiba was characterized based on several parameters: 1) noise level measurements at railroad crossings with the train horn blowing; 2) noise level measurements at railroad crossings without the train horn blowing; 3) noise maps showing the situation of noise pollution generated by train horn blowing; 4) noise maps without train horn blowing; 5) noise measurement at the receiver, i.e., inside the home of a resident in a neighborhood affected by railroad noise; and 6) interviews with the population of a district through which the railway runs
Summary
Noise pollution today is no longer restricted to industrial environments but affects small, medium and large cities all over the world. It is a daily reality both in developed countries such as the United States and the European nations and in emerging countries such as India, China and Brazil. Traffic noise is a serious source of annoyance for people trying to rest and relax at home [15,16,17,18], when it interferes with sleep, which is indispensable to human health, contributing to the degradation of quality-of-life [19,20,21,22,23]. Traffic noise – road, air, and railway – causes discomfort and irritation, especially during activities that require attention and concentration [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14].
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