Railway Noise Pollution: An Investigation of Rail Systems in Terms of Noise Pollution Regulations and Land Usage

Abstract

Noise pollution caused by transportation has become problem for societies with increasing traffic volumes and the development of cities day by day. In European countries and Turkey, transportation-related noise pollution has caused health problems as well as reducing the living standards of the people. It is necessary to carry out detailed studies in order to determine the problems caused by noise pollution, especially in the regions where industry and labor force are concentrated, and to solve these problems. The city of Izmir is one of the cities where the noise caused by the railway needs to be investigated. As a result of the studies carried out in the research area, the railway noise pollution map was created with the IDW method with the data obtained from 8 different points. Afterwards, the effect of railway systems on the land usage types of cities, noise pollution problems, and the period between 2000-2018 were examined. The negative effects of noise pollution caused by the railway in the hinterland of the suburban line in the study area and its effect on the land usage type were investigated with the EU and Turkey Noise Regulation and the land cover data of the European Environment Agency.