Our Report on Railway Vibration Reduction Strategies

Freight and passenger railways often receive complaints from private citizens living in proximity to rail operations regarding noise and vibration derived from day-to-day railway operations. Railways have collaborated with municipal governments and community associations to establish guidelines and best practices that should be incorporated into new residential developments in proximity to railway operations.

Recognizing the need to investigate possible solutions to vibration issues and the cost/benefits of these solutions, The Railway Association of Canada (RAC) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Proximity Initiative, retained HGC Engineering to conduct a comprehensive Vibration Reduction Study. The report is expected to be published before the year’s end.

The objective of the project is to compile a depository of information on research and best practices that have been undertaken or implemented to reduce vibration associated with railway operations at various locations from source to receiver, specifically for retrofit situations. The study will include international research of new and existing practices in Europe, Australia and North America on railway vibration mitigation methods including a selection of case histories, successful or otherwise.

As reported in the spring 2012 issue of Interchange, the Railway Association of Canada’s quarterly news magazine by Cynthia Lulham, project manager of the associations’s Proximity Initiative.