Bay Area Rapid Transit cuts noise with new wheel design

The new wheel profile design announced by Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) in August 2016 has proved successful in reducing metal-on-metal contact and, consequently, noise. The new, reduced-contact wheel profile has shown as much as a 15 dB decrease in interior noise on the current fleet. Plus, the new wheel profile no longer relies on the wheel flange catching the rail to turn around corners. This drastically reduces the amount of wheel and rail erosion, and will stretch the life of the rail infrastructure by many years.
Currently, 13% of BART’s legacy fleet has been outfitted with the new wheel profile. BART estimates that 90% will be converted by the end of 2019. All new “Fleet of the Future” cars coming off the assembly line will be outfitted with the new profile, bringing much-needed relief to passengers and neighbors who live close to BART lines.
BART also undertakes a plan to do surface grinds to remove the effects of corrugation, known to cause unpleasant sounds. The rail optimization plan will take place during maintenance hours overnight over approximately five years. There will be three phases, with six grinding passes per phase over the entire 378 km system.


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