Highly absorbent track side walls for railway noise control

Abstract

The railway is the most environmentally friendly and sustainable public transport mode, being at the same time a noise generator due to wheel-rail contact, traction power, and wind-car interaction. Noise emission reduction actions depend on the sound propagation from the origin point to the receiving point, involving combined actions in order to be efficient. Absorbent track side walls together with track improvements such as welded tracks instead of jointed tracks, disk brakes, and rail and wheel maintenance can lower the noise impact generated by traffic. The aim of this study is to determine the noise reduction for railway traffic on current tracks and on railway stations for implemented solutions with trackside walls along the lines.