The construction of railway lines usually has a negative effect on the natural environment: habitats are destroyed, collisions with trains cause deaths, and the noise and vibrations associated with rail traffic disturb the lives of animals. Cases are known, however, where the opposite holds true: a railway line has a positive effect on the fauna in its vicinity. In this study, we attempted to define the influence of a busy railway line on a breeding community of woodland birds. Birds were counted using the point method at 45 observation points located at three different distances (30, 280, 530 m) from the tracks. At each point, we determined the habitat parameters and the intensity of noise. In total, 791 individual birds of 42 species were recorded on the study plot. Even though the noise level fell distinctly with increasing distance from the tracks, the abundance of birds and the number of species were the highest near the railway line. Moreover, insectivorous species displayed a clear preference for the vicinity of the line. The noise from the trains did not adversely affect the birds on the study plot. The environmental conditions created by the edge effect meant that the birds preferred the neighborhood of the tracks: the more diverse habitats near the tracks supplied attractive nesting and foraging niches for many species of birds. Trains passing at clear intervals acted as point sources of noise and did not elicit any negative reactions on the part of the birds; this stands in contrast to busy roads, where the almost continuous flow of traffic in practice constitutes a linear source of noise.

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The main objectives of the introduced Directive 2002/49/EC are to harmonize the activities intended to control the harmful effects of noise pollution and to standardize the methodology for their assessment. Strategic acoustic maps drawn up in the EU Member States allow for determining the state of environmental noise pollution and planning preventive measures. This study involved analyses of noise levels in selected European capitals and Polish cities. The number of inhabitants who may be affected by a high degree of sleep disturbance caused by railway noise was also analyzed. An attempt was made to present a correlation between the scale of noise exposure and population density, the length of the existing railway infrastructure, and the type of areas with railways running through them. The most unfavorable type of development in terms of the number of people exposed to noise is compact development located directly along railway lines. Thanks to the acoustic maps, it is possible to locate the most noise-polluted places and establish a hierarchy of protective measures.

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The negative effect of traffic noise on human health is indisputable. The article illustrates the magnitude of this problem in selected European capitals using data made available by the European Environment Agency, collected as a part of strategic noise mapping under Directive 2002/49/EC. The purpose of the described studies is to determine the number of people suffering from noise-induced health problems, and to compare the effect of the road noise on human health with the effect of noise from rail vehicles. Studies concern noise annoyance, induced sleep disturbance, and Disability-Adjusted Life Years, or DALY index. Analyses clearly show that environmental pollution from road noise often exceeds environmental pollution from railway noise by a factor of 10. In addition, studies show that in many cities, more than half of the population is exposed to road noise exceeding the acceptable values. The worst of all selected agglomerations with regard to people exposed to road and rail noise is Paris, the capital of France. It should be noted, however, that it has the highest population density of all the analyzed cities and a very well developed transport network. Further studies are needed to characterize the effect of traffic noise on inhabitant health more accurately, using specific indicators allowing to do so.