Contribution
Development of a concept for quieter rail transport in Germany
* Presenting author
Abstract:
With increasing rail traffic, noise pollution is increasingly coming into focus and can become an acceptance problem. The research results of a project for the Federal Environment Agency are presented. The aim was to develop a concept for quieter rail transport in Germany against the background of the transport transition. This includes technical, economic and legal dimensions. The presentation will focus on the technical side. As part of the project, it is recommended that explicit requirements be placed on the infrastructure with regard to rail roughness and track decay rate in order to minimise its influence on rolling noise. In addition, various options are being discussed for the different types of transport (long-distance, local and freight transport) - ranging from a lowering of the TSI Noise limit values to a targeted ordering policy for quieter vehicles by the federal states for local transport. Against the background of the introduction of the Digital Automatic Coupling, only minor reduction options are emerging for freight transport. Based on the proposed reduction options, the effect can be estimated using a forecast based on the noise mapping of the Federal Railway Authority.