The new policy of the European Commission for the abatement of railway noise

With the Green Paper on Future Noise Policy published in November 1996, the European Commission began to step up its activities in the field of European noise abatement policy including the railway sector. The Commission has convened various working groups (WG) on noise reception and emissions in order to develop proposals for the new European noise policy. The Railway Noise WG started its work in December 1999. Furthermore, the Commission is going to enforce noise emission limits for high-speed and conventional train sets operating on the trans-European network within the Interoperability Directives of the European Union.This paper reports on the reasons for the new European noise policy. It describes how railway noise regulations are developed within the framework of the Interoperability Directives. First, limit proposals for high-speed train sets are presented. Results of the activities of the Railway Noise WG are described.