National Railway Company CFR S.A. Austrian Showcase for Infrastructure NOISE PROTECTION. Radisson Blu Hotel Bucharest 24 th of September, 2014

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1 National Railway Company CFR S.A. Austrian Showcase for Infrastructure NOISE PROTECTION Radisson Blu Hotel Bucharest 24 th of September, 2014

2 THE NATIONAL RAILWAY COMPANY CFR SA The Romanian railway network has a total track length of 20,077 km, being the seventh largest network in the European Union. The lines are connected by means of 20,070 equivalent points and switches. The network includes 17,945 bridges and culverts, 176 tunnels and 11,473 km of embankments. The components of the public railway infrastructure are listed in Annex no. 2 to the Government Decision no. 581/1998, published in the Official Gazette no. 349 of , with its further amendments.

3 THE RAILWAYS, THE PROTECTOR" OF THE ENVIRONMENT The environmental strategy of CNCF CFR - SA, the overall objectives established: integrated pollution prevention and control by using the best available techniques for the activities having an impact on the environment; environmental impact assessment in the initial phase of a project, for the activities having a significant impact on the environment; maintenance and improvement of the environment quality; rehabilitation of areas affected by pollution; implementation of environmental management and auditing systems; education and public awareness and involvement of the public in the environmental decision development and enforcement process.

4 THE VOICE OF TRAIN WHEELS" MUST BECOME JUST A..METAPHOR! Depending on the needs and possibilities of the different companies or infrastructures, numerous studies have been prepared and many solutions have been adopted in order to reduce the railway noise. The mounting of sound-absorbing panels along the lines, the reduction in the irregularities of the wheels and tracks, the introduction of composite brake blocks for freight wagons upon the introduction of new types of lines, all these solutions show the tireless efforts of the railmen to turn the voice of train wheels into a...metaphor!

5 MONITORING OF NOISE POLLUTION BY PREPARING STRATEGIC RAILWAY NOISE MAPS Why noise maps? Strategic noise map = a representation of the information on one of the following aspects: the existing, past and future acoustic condition according to a noise indicator; an exceeded limit value; the estimated number of houses, schools and hospitals in a certain area, which are exposed to certain values of the noise indicator; the estimated number of the persons settled in an area exposed to noise. Given its obligations set down in the Government Decision no. 321/2005, republished, with its further amendments and supplements, CN CF CFR -SA prepares the strategic noise maps and the action plans for the main railways.

6 REQUIREMENTS FOR RAILWAY NOISE MAPS Model of Railway Noise Map Train category Number of wagons Speeds Braking Type of permanent way Road geometry Area geometry Weather conditions Model with description of sources Propagation Model Noise Map

7 AMBIENT NOISE ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT During the period of time , CNCF CFR SA prepared in accordance with the legal provisions, the strategic noise maps and the action plans for the main railways along the railway routes with a traffic level of over 30,000 passages of trains/year, namely the Bucureşti Nord Brazi Route. The strategic noise maps and the action plans can be found on the site of CFR, at the address: There has also been created a Website for informing the public with regard to the results achieved as a consequence of the preparation of the strategic noise maps, which uses the Web technology GIS (reference: at the address:

8 RAILWAY NOISE CALCULATION METHODS IN THE EU Calculation Methods - France NMPB/XPS Austria ÖNORM S The Nordic Countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark) / Temanord The United Kingdom and Ireland CRTN - Germany and Luxembourg Schall 03 Method in the absence of an own method, Romania had to adopt the calculation method of the Netherlands RMR (SRM 2)

9 SOUND PERCEPTION Noise is defined as a sound generated in the air, at a high unexpected or undesired level, whereas it can be better defined by means of a group of sounds. The perception of sound or noise is very subjective: a person can perceive a sound as music, while another person can perceive the same sound as noise. The two terms sound/noise are used as synonyms, although we can hardly define a sound generated by a road as being anything else that noise. The sound (or noise) propagation has three components: source; transmission way; receiver.

10 The decibel scale for noise limits Hearing threshold Quiet rural environment Night limit: 40 db(a), on the outside of inhabited buildings (Order of the Health Minister no. 596/July 1997) Inside of a house Day limit: 50 db(a), on the outside of inhabited buildings (Order of the Health Minister no. 596/July 1997) Limit for (connecting) roads of the Category II and at the border of the operational areas: 65 db(a) Normal conversation Limit for (collecting) roads of the Category II: 70 db(a) Crowded road traffic Pneumatic puncher Rock band Painful threshold

11 STRATEGIC NOISE MAP - INDICATOR L DayEveningNight FOR THE BUCHAREST- BRAZI ROUTE - YEAR 2012

12 STRATEGIC NOISE MAP - INDICATOR L NIGHT FOR THE BUCHAREST- BRAZI ROUTE - YEAR 2012

13 POTENTIAL NOISE MITIGATION SOLUTIONS After consulting the noise maps and the actual field situation, there were identified the following solutions: action on the source: actions on vehicles, track, speed restrictions, etc.; action on the noise propagation way: soundabsorbing or sound-reflecting panels and other modern methods; action on the receivers: sound-absorbing plating of buildings, highly sound-absorbing panes.

14 AUTHORITIES INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS OF APPROVING THE MAPS AND THE ACTION PLANS The strategic noise maps for the lines with a traffic level of over 30,000 passages of trains and the action plans prepared by CN CF CFR SA were approved: by the competent environmental authorities; by means of the Order of the Transport Minister no of June 25, 2014, regarding the approval of the strategic noise maps and the action plans for the main railways with a traffic level of over 30,000 passages of trains/year of CNCF CFR SA.

15 POSTER FOR PRESENTING THE NOISE MITIGATION ACTION PLAN, THE SECTORAL OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME TRANSPORT

16 SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS In order to be mounted on the railway infrastructure of CFR, the sound-absorbing panels must: be approved by the Romanian Railway Authority (AFER), in acc. with the Order of the Transport Minister no. 290/2000 have a high TL absorption coefficient the materials used for their manufacturing must meet the requirements set down in the European regulations be accompanied by compliance certificates and maintenance and operation rules comply with the requirements of SR EN 1794:2011; SR EN 1793:2013

17 ONGOING/COMPLETED PROJECTS FOR AMBIENT NOISE MANAGEMENT As far as the completed or ongoing projects are concerned, the railway noise mitigation measures taken are related to the mounting of sound-absorbing panels, as in the table below: Curre Route Type Distance Comments nt no. (about) 1. 1 Bucuresti Nord - Chitila Concrete panels 2.5 km Achieved (initiative of SRCF) 1. 2 Câmpina - Predeal Concrete panels 4.2 km Achieved 1. 3 Radna - Simeria Metallic profiles embedded in prefabricated elements 2.63 km Set down in the Technical Design (under tendering) 1. 4 Sighişoara -Simeria Concrete panels Under 1. 5 Border km 614, area of the localities Sofronea and Arad km construction Concrete panels 2.2 km Under construction

18 AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG THE BUCHAREST BRAZI RAILWAY ROUTE (km 7+700) Fast train and freight train in the area of the halt The Bucharest Marshalling Yard. In the middle, the railway line to Urziceni and Otopeni

19 AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG THE BUCHAREST BRAZI RAILWAY ROUTE Commuter train passing by an area protected by sound-absorbing panels

20 AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG THE RAILWAY ROUTE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

21 AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG THE RAILWAY ROUTE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

22 AREAS PROTECTED BY SOUND-ABSORBING PANELS ALONG THE RAILWAY ROUTE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

23 OTHER METHODS FOR MITIGATING THE NOISE AT THE SOURCE BY MOUNTING CLIP-ON NOISE ABSORBERS Figure 1: Mounted noise absorber

24 The mitigation achieved with the help of this system The reduction in the noise level according to the frequency, overlapped on the frequency characteristic of a train: - the red curve represents the initial situation - the blue curve represents the situation after mounting the absorbers

25 EXAMPLE OF PANELS ADEQUATE FOR THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT: In the urban environment, the panels must capture something of the elements of the neighboring structures such as a dominant material or a certain building style, whereas plants should be incorporated in case of a green area.

26 LONG-TERM RAILWAY NOISE MITIGATION STRATEGIES On the medium- and long-term, the railway strategies should include proposals for reducing the railway noise level by means of plans/projects for: introducing modern rolling stock; replacing the cast-iron brake shoes with composite brake shoes of the LL Type for the retrofitted wagons or of the K Type for the new wagons, for the freight wagons; acoustic retrofitting of locomotives/selecting more quiet sources; using noise absorbers for the tracks; adjusting the permanent way and the wheels; using sound-absorbing panels; using combined screening.

27 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!