Rail noise pollution can now be accurately monitored and analysed for a fraction of the cost as a result of new research by Rail CRC, resulting in Australia leading the world in noise monitoring.

Rail CRC is headquartered at CQU Rockhampton.

Cooperative Research Centre for Railway Engineering and Technologies (Rail CRC) project team member and RailCorp Environmental Specialist Dave Anderson said the research, based at the University of Wollongong and led by Dr Richard Dwight, offered a huge step forward in rail noise data collection and extraction, replacing the existing labour-intensive or costly methods.

“This Rail CRC research makes Australia a world leader in wheel squeal noise analysis,” Mr Anderson said.

“The reason we (RailCorp) found this invaluable is that it enables us to use extremely inexpensive equipment to capture noise recordings and then carry out accurate and targeted noise analysis from recordings collected over an extended period of time - with all extraneous sounds removed.

“For complex issues like wheel squeal, you need 2 to 4 weeks of continuous monitoring at any one location to effectively gauge noise problems and review effectiveness of mitigation for communities located near rail corridors.

“On any one day a number of different freight trains can run – trains owned and built by different companies carrying different freight or passengers. Most trains perform differently on different days, so a brief noise survey can give misleading results.

“Traditionally it has been a laborious process involving hundreds of person-hours to analyse the continuous recordings that are required to capture what’s going on noise-wise – you have to take out the cicadas, barking dogs, crows and the countless other unrelated noises you incidentally capture.

“We have developed a system that far more efficiently and effectively replaces this using an algorithm that automatically categorises rail noise and automatically gets rid of extraneous noises.

“Instead of costing $100,000s to monitor wheel squeal for extended periods, it can now be done for just a few thousand".

Mr Anderson said rail transportation offered an environmentally friendly transport system for both freight and passengers, with less energy input and fewer greenhouse gas emissions than road transport.

But noise had always been a key issue for communities living near rail corridors. Government legislation was increasingly protecting the community’s quality of life, which meant noise issues would be an increasingly significant hurdle for the approval of new rail projects. The cost of restricting the growth of rail was huge in dollar figures, Mr Anderson said.

“RailCorp has already purchased 5 sets of low cost noise recording equipment and the Rail CRC algorithm is virtually in full-time use to analyse the results,” Mr Anderson said.

“There could well be major international opportunities – particularly for wheel squeal detection and analysis".

The noise monitoring project is one of approximately 40 Rail CRC research projects established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program.

Rail CRC consists of rail industry partners – Rail Corp, TMG Rail Technology, ARTC, Pacific National, and Queensland Rail - and 6 university partners – the University of Wollongong, University of South Australia, Central Queensland University, Monash University, The University of Queensland, and Queensland University of Technology.

For more information on this and other Rail CRC projects visit www.railcrc.com.au.