The problem of noise reduction represents a challenge for the railway freight sector, being approached by the European Commission through the adopted policies, by the specialised industry through the identification of new products and solutions which should be efficient in terms of the cost-benefit ratio, by the infrastructure managers, and for the railway freight transport system, the adopted measures must not affect the competitiveness level.
In this regard, the Rail Forum Europe members and stakeholders request the adoption of appropriate measures for the reduction of rail noise, especially for freight wagons, which should minimise the impact of the railway sector competitiveness. This matter is highly important especially in the densely populated regions and consequently the railway community and the EC are trying to identify viable solutions.
“The Commission wishes to avoid disruptions in the process of completing the Single European Railway Area by ensuring a common EU approach in tackling rail noise”, Sian Prout, Head of Unit for Single European Rail Area, DG MOVE declared during the seminar “Wagon noise: on the way to remove the last rail environmental burden” (May 2013). The Communication on the measures to reduce the rail noise: modernisation of freight wagons adopted in July 2008 identifies the differentiated track access charges as the most efficient instrument for reducing (source) noise. Under these circumstances, in 2013 the Noise Expert Group, which would assist in the preparation of the implementing acts related to the noise-differentiated track access charge (NDTAC), could be re-activated. Besides this measure, the retrofitting of freight wagons is vital for noise reduction. Therefore, the Connecting Europe Faci-lity offers the possibility to co-fund freight wagon modernisation projects: the noise reduction programmes by retrofitting of existing rolling stock are among the eligible actions that can receive EU aid in the form of grants, and the Member States, international organizations and public or private undertakings can submit proposals. EU financial aid for actions to reduce rail freight noise by retrofitting is set at 20% of eligible costs. At present, the grant of EUR 31.7 Billion for transport projects has been reduced to EUR 23 Billion.
Within the noise reduction policy, DG MOVE intends to launch a study on the effective reduction of the noise generated by the railway freight wagons in use in the European Union which aims at reducing the noise level by 2020, but at the same time at maintaining the competitiveness of the railway sector vis-à-vis other transport modes. The Commission will seek to address the problems related to the freight wagons not conforming with the TSI-Noise limit (they are the most important source of rail noise), the existing measures which are not sufficient to quickly reduce the level of rail noise, the risk of unilateral measures leading to barriers to railway interoperability and internal market.
Within the study, several options will be considered referring to a baseline scenario, increased financial support for retrofitting of existing wagons with low-noise brake blocks, noise-differentiated track access charges, mandatory application of TSI-Noise limits to all existing railway wagons, introduction of a noise limit along the TEN-T railway network, but also in relation to the density of population, and additionally, the introduction of a maximum transport-related cumulative noise exposure could be considered.
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