Environmental noise mitigation measures for Lithuanian railway network

Abstract

Railways are one of the most environmentally friendly types of transport. Rail transport requires less energy and emits less hazardous substances, but biggest issues with railways are an environmental noise pollution noise. To reduce this noise different measures could be implemented in different places – at the source, between the source and the receiver, at the receiver. Unfortunately today in Lithuanian rail transport is not very popular mean of transport amongst travellers. Therefore, it is necessary to reconstruct railways lines to increase train speed, comfort for passengers, etc. In order to promote its development, minimal impact on environmental noise pollution must be ensured. Various parameters of track influence the level of emitted noise. This article presents an overview of noise mitigation measures in Lithuanian railway design documentation (rail type, wheel roughness, rail dampers, noise barriers, exchange of brake blocks, rail grinding, noise insulated windows, etc.) and also comparison of their effectiveness.