The STAIRRS project, work package 1: a cost-effectiveness analysis of railway noise reduction on a European scale

Noise control is a major economic factor for the railways as national and European Union environmental legislation is being enacted. In an effort to determine optimal strategies on a European level, the EU fifth framework programme has co-financed the Strategies and Tools to Assess and Implement noise Reducing measures for Railway Systems (STAIRRS) project. Work package 1 developed the necessary software to undertake large-scale cost-effectiveness analyses. The acoustically relevant geographic, traffic and track data were collected for 11 000 km of lines in seven European countries. Standard cost-benefit methodologies were adapted to fit the requirements of the project. An extrapolation mechanism allowed studies on Europe as a whole and, in an approximate manner, also on individual countries. Major conclusions are that the highest cost-effectiveness can be achieved by combining measures; freight rolling stock has a high cost-effectiveness on its own as well as in combination with other measures, especially when combined with track measures; noise barriers, in particular high ones, have a low cost-effectiveness. The conclusions for Europe as a whole are also true for individual countries. The STAIRRS project co-ordinator is the European Rail Research Institute, the work package leader is the Swiss Federal Railways with the participation of AEAT Technology (NL), German Railways, French Railways, PSI-Akustik (A), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and the Free University of Brussels.