Noise & vibration


Rivas strives to beat noise pollution


Reducing ground-borne noise and vibration remains a major challenge for railways aiming to increase freight traffic volumes. The International Union of Railways’ (UIC) Railway Induced Vibration Abatement Solutions (Rivas) project is identifying and implementing mitigation methods to overcome this problem, as Lise Pesqueux, acoustics engineer at Alstom, and Estelle Bongini, project manager for acoustics and ground vibrations at French National Railways (SNCF), explain.


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NYONE who lives in the vicinity of a railway line will be all too aware of the impact of a


passing train. Great strides have been made in recent times to reduce emissions and the unsightliness of railway infrastructure. However, the problem of excessive noise and vibration from railway vehicles remains. With demand growing for housing in urban areas it is inevitable that more residential buildings will be developed


IRJ June 2013


close to railway lines. As a result research efforts are underway to identify the source of noise and vibration and to suggest infrastructure improvements that will mitigate its impact.


The UIC’s Rivas project, which is partially funded by the European Commission within its seventh framework research and development programme, and is supported by 26 partners including infrastructure managers, manufacturers, research


institutions, and associations from nine countries, is one such initiative. The project is assessing the influence of track parameters on the generation of ground vibration, and based on this work will propose new and suggest optimised mitigation solutions. But what causes this noise? Vibrations induced in the vicinity of track are caused by the interaction force created at the wheel-rail contact point when a train passes. This force causes track components to vibrate and transmit


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Photo: Robin Ralston


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