Experimental Investigation of Noise Annoyance Caused by High-speed Trains

The observed difference in perceived annoyance caused by train and highway noise at the same averaged noise level, has led to the introduction of the ‘railway bonus’. This bonus has found its way to the noise legislation in many countries, leading to more relaxed restrictions on time averaged noise levels, LAeq. With the introduction of high-speed trains and train-like transportation systems based on magnetic levitation, the question has risen whether the railway bonus can still be applied. The design of the present experiment was different from previous efforts in many ways. Most importantly, it was conducted in a realistic setting, a holiday cottage, and participants were asked to engage in light daily activities during the tests. Traffic noise was reproduced in an ecologically valid way, using outdoor loudspeakers. A stepwise selection procedure was based on a screening questionnaire that was administered at the doorstep of 1500 people living around the test site, to be representative for the Dutch population. Finally, 100 representative participants were selected. The results from the annoyance experiment differed significantly from the results obtained using a much shorter listening test conducted afterwards. The LAeq-annoyance relationship obtained for the conventional high-speed train and for the magnetic levitation high-speed train did not differ significantly. The distance between the listening (recording) position and the track turned out to be the most important explanatory variable for the differences in exposure-response relationship observed, more so than vehicle speed or rise time.