QUIET-TRACK - Quiet Tracks for Sustainable Railway Infrastructures
Overview
Objectives:
The objective is to provide step changing track based noise mitigation systems and maintenance schemes, to provide reliable improved TSI based rolling noise calculation procedures with harmonized monitoring of the required input parameters and to provide track noise management tools, for use in noise mapping and hot spot action plans according to the END, for use as engineering tools and solutions in new railway projects and in refurbishment projects and for use by the track maintenance managers and track maintenance industry. The existing rolling noise models will be enhanced with new fundamental features: the integration of the low frequency noise emission and of the actual wheel rail contact conditions for more accurate predictions of the noise emitted by the track. On-board monitoring systems will be developed to make it possible to use the real roughness values and track decay rate values measured directly at the track location where maintenance action is required or where mitigating solutions have to be applied.
Methodology:
New track solutions, including embedded track systems, will be developed which yield a noise reduction performance of at least 6 dB(A) in comparison with the global rolling noise measured on a well maintained standard track in the network of the participating infra managers. The solutions will be applicable to tram, LRT and metro tracks as well as to conventional tracks in the whole European Union. The developed solutions should not back-up a poor initial design. This is why attention is paid to a good initial design with a procedure for selecting the best rail type and the best rail hardness in terms of minimising noise related wear. A procedure for checking the economic viability of the solutions will be developed. This will result in holistic noise management plans for the introduction of the noise abatement solutions and for the noise related track maintenance.
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