Guidance for new policy developments on railway noise
and vibration

Peris, E; Woodcock, JS; Sica, G; Sharp, C; Moorhouse, AT; Waddington, DC

Abstract

Noise and vibration are two of the main problems associated with railways in residential
areas. To ensure quality of life and well-being of inhabitants living in the vicinity of railway
paths, it is important to evaluate, understand, control and regulate railway noise and vibration.
Much attention has been focused on the impact of noise from railway traffic but the
consideration of railway-induced vibration has often been neglected. This paper aims to
provide policy guidance based on results obtained from the analyses of relationships estimated
from ordinal logit models between human response, railway noise exposure and
railway vibration exposure. This was achieved using data from case studies comprised of
face-to-face interviews (N = 931), internal vibration measurements (N = 755), and noise
calculations (N = 688) collected within the study ‘‘Human Response to Vibration in
Residential Environments” by the University of Salford, UK. Firstly, the implications of
neglecting vibration in railway noise policies are investigated. The findings suggest that
it is important to account for railway induced vibrations in future noise and transport policies,
as neglecting vibrations results in an underestimation of people highly annoyed by
noise. Secondly, implications of neglecting different types of railway sources are presented.
It was found that the impact of noise and vibration form maintenance operations should be
better understood and should be taken into account when assessing the environmental
impact of railways in residential environments. Finally, factors that were found to influence
railway vibration annoyance are presented and expressed as weightings. The data shows
that factors specific to a particular residential area should also be taken into account in
future vibration policies as the literature shows that attitudinal, socio-demographic and
situational factors have a large influence on vibration annoyance responses. This work will
be of interest to researchers and environmental health practitioners involved in the assessment
of vibration complaints, as well as to policy makers, planners and consultants
involved in the design of buildings and railways.

Citation

and vibration. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 85, 76-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.01.004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 5, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jan 23, 2016
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Mar 15, 2016
• Journal: Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice
• Print ISSN: 0965-8564
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-2375
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Volume: 85
• Pages: 76-88
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.01.004
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.01.004
• Related Public URLs: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/transportation-research-part-a-policy-and-practice/
• Additional Information: Projects : Human response to vibration in residential environments