Developing a good practice guide on the evaluation of human response to vibration from railways in residential environments

Woodcock, JS; Peris, E; Waddington, DC; Moorhouse, AT

Abstract

The adverse effects that noise and vibration from railway systems in residential environments can have on people are key obstacles for the development of new rail systems and the operation of existing lines. Recent years have seen an increase in public sensitivity towards noise and vibration from rail systems and the success of legislation to control noise levels around railway lines has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints about railway-induced vibration. Costly mitigation measures coupled with unclear or non-existent assessment methods mean that there is a need in industry and consultancy for clear guidance on the assessment of groundborne vibration from rail systems with respect to human response.

The current EU FP7 project CargoVibes is to publish a good practice guide on the assessment of the human response to railway induced vibration in residential environments. The aim of the guidance will be to provide end users with a set of practical tools to assess the human impact of "steady state" railway vibration primarily in terms of annoyance and sleep disturbance. Encompassing the current state of knowledge regarding the human response to vibration in residential environments alongside the practical outputs of the CargoVibes project, this document is intended to promote policy and standard development in this field.

The current paper will present the preliminary contents of the guidance, which have been shaped by a workshop held at the University of Salford. This paper is intended to promote debate and enable contributions from the IWRN community to ensure that the guidance is relevant to the current needs of legislators, rail and infrastructure operators, consultants, and local authorities.

Citation

Woodcock, J., Peris, E., Waddington, D., & Moorhouse, A. Developing a good practice guide on the evaluation of human response to vibration from railways in residential environments. Presented at 11th International Workshop on Railway Noise, Uddevalla, Sweden

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: 11th International Workshop on Railway Noise
• Conference Location: Uddevalla, Sweden
• Publication Date: Nov 19, 2014
• Deposit Date: Nov 23, 2016
• Series Title: Notes on Numerical Fluid Mechanics and Multidisciplinary Design
• Series Number: 126
• Book Title: Noise and Vibration Mitigation for Rail Transportation Systems
• ISBN: 9783662448311;-9783662448328
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44832-8_36
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44832-8_36
• Additional Information: Event Type : Workshop