Internationally accepted exposure-response relationships show that railway noise causes less annoyance than road traffic and aircraft noise. Railway transport, both passenger and freight transport, is increasing, and new railway lines are planned for environmental reasons. The combination of more frequent railway traffic and faster and heavier trains will, most probably, lead to more disturbances from railway traffic in the near future. To effectively plan for mitigations against noise and vibration from railway traffic, new studies are needed to obtain a better basis of knowledge. The main objectives of the present study was to investigate how the relationship between noise levels from railway traffic and general annoyance is influenced by (i) number of trains, (ii) the presence of ground borne vibrations, and (iii) building situational factors, such as orientation of balcony/patio and bedroom window. Socio-acoustic field studies were executed in residential areas; (1) with relatively intense railway traffic; (2) with strong vibrations, and; (3) with the most intense railway traffic in the country. Data was obtained for 1695 respondents exposed to sound levels ranging from L(Aeq,24h) 45 to 65 dB. Both number of trains and presence of ground-borne vibrations, and not just the noise level per se, are of relevance for how annoying railway noise is perceived. The results imply that, for the proportion annoyed to be equal, a 5 - 7 dB lower noise level is needed in areas where the railway traffic causes strong ground-borne vibrations and in areas with a very large number of trains. General noise annoyance was twice as high among residents in dwellings with balcony / patio oriented towards the railway and about 1.5 times higher among residents with bedroom windows facing the railway.
A hearing examination of 538 teenage boys in vocational school classes--implying future on-the-job noise exposure--showed a hearing loss (greater than 20 dB HL at any frequency) in 15% of the cases. Few correlations could be demonstrated between hearing loss and specific leisure time activities. There was, however, a correlation between high frequency hearing loss in the left ear and hereditary hearing loss. The most affected frequency was 6 kHz, suggesting a noise etiology--a suggestion emphasized by the noisy hobbies of these teenagers. It cannot be excluded that a hereditary deficiency could either manifest itself as a localized dip at 6 kHz or reveal itself as an increased vulnerability to noise, identified at young age as a high frequency dip at 6 kHz.
An increasing incidence of a high tone hearing loss in teenagers has been demonstrated in recent years. The hearing loss is sensorineural, and looks like an early noise-induced hearing loss with a dip at 6 kHz. It has been discussed whether this is due to noisy leisure time activities or to heredity. Five hundred thirty-eight boys from technical vocational schools were questioned with regard to leisure time activities. Hearing tests showed a normal mean audiogram with a marked dip at 6 kHz. Fifteen percent of the boys showed some hearing loss; more than 20 db HL on one frequency. Many teenagers had noisy leisure time activities, particularly related to pop music. No correlations could be found between hearing loss and the leisure time activities. The only marked correlation was for hearing loss at 4, 6 and 8 kHz on the left ear and a family history of hearing loss. We argue that heredity deficiency could reveal itself as an increased noise sensitivity with a resultant early noise-induced hearing loss at a young age. Much more attention should be devoted to the noisy activities of teenagers.
In the Nordic countries a receiver height of 2 m has often been used when calculating noise levels over large areas for socioacoustic surveys, but within the EU 4 m is used. Here results are presented for railway noise calculations at both heights in 1459 points across several areas in Sweden. The average difference in equivalent level is 2.5 dB higher at 4 m height than at 2 m, which in turn leads to 10 % -40 % less predicted annoyance if the exposure is calculated at 4 m.
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