SUBJECTIVE REACTION TO STRUCTURALLY RADIATED SOUND FROM UNDERGROUND RAILWAYS - FIELD RESULTS

Structurally radiated noise from underground railways is becoming a ma jor problem for railway administrations, due to the increase in the nu mber of tunnels in urban areas, and to the increase in train speeds, w heelset tonnage and operation frequency. As a result, the number of co mplaints from residents living above railway tunnels is also increasin g. Several control measures have been proposed in the past 15 years, b oth for the track design and for the vehicle design. Nevertheless, the se measures are expensive, and not always effective. While several sta ndards have been proposed for vibration limits in this type of problem , there are few standards to define acceptable levels for this type of structure-borne sound. This paper presents field results obtained dur ing 1994 and 1995 in the vicinity of underground railways, where measu rements of vibration and low-frequency noise were obtained during trai n pass-bys. These results, together with measurements of environmental noise due to other sources, are considered together with the response s to a questionnaire completed by the people affected. This paper comp lements laboratory work carried out at the ISVR [1]. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited