Effects of railway rolling noise on perceived pleasantness

Due to the recommendation of the European Commission, the railway companies have been replacing the conventional brake system of freight wagons. Since the retrofitting may lead to a change in noise characteristics, the authors aimed at examining its effectiveness to increase the pleasantness of the sounds. Realistic railway pass-by sounds were synthesized. The authors conducted a laboratory study with 44 participants who were asked which of pairwise presented sounds they perceived as more pleasant. Preference rankings were derived based on a metric scale.Participants preferred retrofitted freight trains to those with a conventional brake system. The more wagons of a train were retrofitted, the more pleasant the sound was rated. Pleasantness decreased with increasing sound pressure level.Since long-term exposure to unpleasant railway sounds may increase the number of highly annoyed residents, the authors' findings provide important information to policy makers supporting the ban of freight train wagons with conventional brake systems.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2023.103995
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1361920923003929
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13619209
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Weidenfeld, Sarah
  • Schmitz, Marie-Therese
  • Sanok, Sandra
  • 0000-0002-3783-5189
  • Henning, Arne
  • Aeschbach, Daniel
  • 0000-0002-6054-5753
  • Elmenhorst, Eva-Maria
• Publication Date: 2024-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 103995
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
  • Volume: 126
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 1361-9209
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13619209

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Brakes; Environmental impacts; Freight trains; Noise; Perception; Railroads
• Geographic Terms: Europe
• Subject Areas: Environment; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01901973
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 12 2023 9:19AM