Do trains cause noise pollution?

Subway systems, light rail transit and freight trains can send loud train noise into neighborhoods. Organizations such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have set guidelines for noise level decibel limits for rapid transit.



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Roughness and irregularities on the wheel and rail surfaces are a source of noise and vibration. Rail joints and squats on the rail cause a familiar clickety-clack sound as train wheels roll over them.

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Freight and Commuter Trains Don't stop on the tracks. Make sure you have room to get across. Once you enter the crossing, keep moving. Stop 15 feet away from flashing red lights, lowered gates, a signaling flagman or a stop sign.

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No, train vibrations do not cause cracking in houses (sheetrock, stucco, etc) that are more than 20 to 30 feet away from the tracks.

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At night, the air near the ground can have a different temperature than air only a few hundred feet above1. This affects the transmission of sound waves. There is usually less ambient noise after dark, so the distant train sounds louder.

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In theory the seats in the center should be quieter and also should lurch less than the seats towards the ends. They are away from the wheels and st a fulcrum point.

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At age 62, I could push a train car down a track. Unlike a steam engine that would hammer the rails (a main reason why they were retired), modern railcars glide with low friction, and crushed rock underneath the tracks helps diminish impact. You won't hear it or feel it, Rangel says.

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And the main reason for that is safety. Locomotive engineers are required to honk every now and then, which is written down in the regulations called the Final Rule on the Use of Locomotive Horns.

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Different tracks have different amounts of vibration at different frequencies. And of course high speed routes even if you could feel them you may still not have time to get out of the way before a train obliterates you. So in some cases you'll feel the vibrations before the train comes and in others you may not.

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Guests are asked to limit conversation and speak in subdued tones. Phone calls are not allowed and all portable electronic devices must be muted or used with headphones (passengers using headphones must keep the volume low enough so that the audio cannot be heard by other passengers).

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