SUBJECTIVE REACTION TO STRUCTURALLY RADIATED SOUND FROM UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS: FIELD RESULTS

Abstract

Structurally radiated noise from underground railways is becoming a major problem for railways administrations, due to the increase in the number of tunnels in urban areas, and to the increase in train speeds, wheelset tonnage and operation frequency. As a result, the number of complaints from residents living above railway tunnels is also increasing. Several control measures have been proposed in the past 15 years, both for the track design and for the vehicle design. Nevertheless, these measures are expensive, and not always effective. While several standards have been proposed for vibration limits in the type of problem, there are few standards to define acceptable levels for this type of structure-borne sound. This paper presents field results obtained during 1994 and 1995 in the vicinity of underground railways, where measurements of vibration and low-frequency noise were obtained during train pass-bys. These results, together with measurements of environment noise due to other sources, are considered together with the responses to a questionnaire completed by the people by the people affected. This paper complements laboratory work carried out at the ISVR [1].