1. Introduction
Increased rail transport is an expected and desirable outcome of government policies that seek to improve air quality and transport planning and integrate land-use planning. Rail transport plays a vital part in efforts to achieve sustainable cities and preserve the environment. State Government initiatives such as the Metropolitan Strategy (DoP 2005), State Infrastructure Strategy 2006–07 to 2015–16 and Action for Air (NSW Government 1998) all encourage the increased use of rail in the future as a preferred mode of transport that minimises environmental impacts.
The benefits of rail include less fuel use, lower greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, reduced road congestion and better safety. Nevertheless, rail noise (including vibration) can have adverse effects on residents living alongside railway lines, by disturbing sleep, causing stress and annoyance, and interfering with talking and hearing in general.
The growth of our rail transport network brings many benefits to the wider community but is accompanied by other factors such as increased train movements, extended rail operating periods and residential development along transport routes. These impacts need to be managed and balanced against protecting the amenity and wellbeing of the local community living beside rail lines.
Establishment of a more compact, efficient and accessible Sydney and an improvement in the air quality this will bring will be partly achieved by higher and more intensive residential development close to public transport. Because some rail operations are inherently noisy, relatively high noise levels may still occur even after all feasible and reasonable means of mitigation have been applied to the operations. This means that to achieve a desirable level of amenity and wellbeing for residents greater attention needs to be paid to the inclusion of noise control options in new residential developments around rail lines.
1.1 Environmental benefits of rail
According to ACIL Consulting (2000), the Australasian Railways Association in its Information Sheet 2 of 1998 reported that:
- Urban rail is twice as energy efficient as buses and 2.5 times more energy efficient than cars. Rail freight uses only one-third of the fuel required by road transport per tonne of freight hauled and produces less than one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions.
- One suburban train carrying 1000 people keeps 800 cars off the road, with significant savings in fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions and road congestion.
- One freight train between Melbourne and Sydney replaces 150 semi-trailers and saves 45,000 litres of fuel and 130 tonnes of greenhouse gases, compared with road haulage.
- Rail is still twice as energy efficient as road, even after fuel use has been included for rail line haul, road pick-up and delivery from rail terminals, manufacture of transport equipment and construction of roads and railway lines.
- Increased use of rail to absorb the growth in passenger and freight demand over the next 20 years will reduce Australia's transport energy consumption, thus reducing the forecast increases in greenhouse gas emissions from road transport.
1.2 Role of the guideline in managing noise and vibration from rail activities
This is an interim guideline which will be trialled in new rail projects over the next three years. Following that, the guideline will be reassessed and revised in the light of public consultation before a final version is developed. This will ensure the community's views are considered and reflected in the final guideline.
This interim guideline is designed to ensure that potential noise impacts associated with the ongoing expansion of rail developments are assessed in a consistent and transparent manner. Effective management of rail noise requires the combined efforts of rail infrastructure owners and developers, rail operators, train manufacturers, regulatory and planning authorities, and the community.
This interim guideline is one component of a comprehensive approach being developed to manage the environmental impacts of noise and vibration from the NSW rail system. The other parts of this approach include:
- A Noise Management Manual for rail developments and operations: This will outline best practice for the mitigation of rail noise and vibration, including operational approaches to managing their impacts. Rail agencies will lead a whole-of-government process to develop the manual.
- Environmental management systems (EMSs): Rail infrastructure owners and developers will develop EMSs appropriate for managing their respective environmental risks.
- Environmental impact assessment guidelines for rail developments: These will aid in providing a clear and consistent approach to meeting the requirements of the NSW planning legislation that supports proposals for rail developments. The NSW Department of Planning (DoP) will develop this in consultation with rail agencies and the Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW (DECC).
- Rolling stock noise-emission standards: These are being developed at a national level by the National Transport Commission (NTC). NSW is an active participant in this process and has promoted the need for national standards to ensure the ongoing viability of expanding rail usage. Rail agencies will lead NSW input into the process.
- A Noise Abatement Program will address existing levels of noise from the rail system on a priority basis and manage noise from rolling stock. Rail infrastructure managers will lead the development of this, with assistance from other relevant NSW agencies, such as DECC and the NSW Ministry of Transport, and rail operators.
- An appropriate environmental planning instrument under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) for new residential (and noise-sensitive) developments alongside rail lines will require the consideration and incorporation of noise and vibration mitigation measures. DoP will develop this with assistance from DECC and rail agencies.
This interim guideline addresses noise and vibration from new rail infrastructure projects. Noise and vibration impacts from existing operations on the rail system are not covered by this guideline. However, the package being developed as outlined above will address noise and vibration impacts from existing rail operations, which have mostly grown over a long period of time. Residential developments close to rail lines have often followed the opening of the lines, and their design and construction have typically had less regard for noise and vibration impacts than is desirable. The reality is that there is no easy answer to existing levels of noise and vibration impacts from rail lines in a dense urban environment.
The NSW Government response for dealing with existing noise impacts from rail will include a means to address acute noise impacts on a priority basis and is expected to form part of the Noise Management Manual and Noise Abatement Program outlined above. The response will likely comprise a combination of interventions at specific receiver sites (e.g. barriers) and at source (i.e. rolling stock). Reduction of noise at source delivers results over a longer period but is far more cost-effective, as it reduces noise for a much greater number of people than is possible with site-specific noise barriers. An added benefit in not constructing barriers is that many of the problems associated with them, such as overshadowing, graffiti, and loss of visual amenity, are also avoided.
1.3 Objectives of the guideline
This guideline is designed to streamline decision-making processes by providing consistent and transparent procedures for the assessment and approval process for rail infrastructure developments that have potential noise and vibration impacts.
The noise trigger levels presented are those that trigger the need for a project to conduct an assessment of its potential noise and vibration impacts and examine what mitigation measures would be feasible and reasonable to apply to ameliorate these impacts. Importantly, the trigger levels are not intended to be applied automatically in any mandatory sense as conditions in statutory approvals or licences.
Social survey research over the last 30 years in various countries has shown that reaction to noise varies widely from individual to individual. Because of this, it is not possible to adopt noise levels that will guarantee no one will experience an impact.
The noise and vibration trigger levels identified in this guideline have been derived from a review of both overseas research into reaction to noise and vibration and the practices applied in other comparable countries to assess and mitigate rail noise and vibration.
1.4 Rail infrastructure projects to which the guideline applies
This guideline applies to rail infrastructure projects that are assessed and determined under the EP&A Act or licensed under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act). The guideline takes a project-based approach with the assessment of impacts and potential mitigation measures applied to the area where works associated with a rail infrastructure project are taking place.
It is envisaged that this guideline will be used whenever there is a need to assess and potentially mitigate noise and vibration impacts for rail infrastructure projects, including:
New rail lines
A new rail line development applies where residential or noise-sensitive receivers are not subject to existing rail noise or where existing levels of rail noise are below the noise trigger levels for a new rail line development. Typically this will be a rail line being developed on a corridor that has not previously been a rail line, or an existing rail line that is being substantially realigned outside the existing corridor.
Redevelopment of existing rail lines
Redevelopment of an existing rail line applies where residential or noise-sensitive receivers are subject to existing rail noise at or above the noise trigger levels in Table 1 in Chapter 2 for a new rail line development. Typically this will be an existing rail line where it is proposed to carry out works that will increase its capacity to carry rail traffic or alter the track alignment through design or engineering changes. In practice this often means a duplication within an existing rail corridor.
Redevelopment does not cover minor works such as crossovers, sidings, turnouts, yards, loops, refuges, relief lines, straightening curves or the installation of track signalling devices where these works will not result in an increase in existing rail noise levels and a level of rail noise beyond the noise trigger levels contained in Tables 1 and 2.
For these rail infrastructure projects the potential noise and vibration would be compared against the noise and vibration trigger levels identified in this guideline to decide whether assessment of impacts and feasible and reasonable mitigation measures is necessary.
This guideline may also be a point of reference for planning or regulatory authorities assessing railway-related activities not subject to approval under the EP&A Act or POEO Act, such as:
- rail activities not requiring an environment protection licence
- heritage railway operations
- the acceptability of development sites for sensitive land uses near rail lines.
This guideline does not apply to:
- existing railways where no development is occurring
- maintenance of the railway system
- projects involving maintenance facilities for rolling stock which should be assessed in accordance with the NSW Industrial Noise Policy (EPA 2000)
- light rail infrastructure projects
- occupational noise and vibration, which are separate issues administered by the WorkCover Authority under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000
- developments where railway systems activities are not being undertaken.
1.5 Community consultation
The NSW rail network is geographically extensive. Large cross-sections of the community come into contact with the network as commuters, residents neighbouring the rail corridor, and communities reliant on freight rail services. In this sense the rail network can be said to have many interactive partnerships. As with all partners, the activities of one can inherently affect or impact on the other. The management of these impacts requires effective public involvement and communication strategies that will assist in determining the impact of rail activities on the community by providing the public with:
- information about rail activities that may affect it
- the opportunity, where appropriate, for input and/or involvement in activities that may affect it
- a means of communicating the impacts of rail activities (i.e. complaint and response mechanisms)
as well as continually improving community partnerships.
The scale of an activity and/or a change to an activity will determine the extent of public involvement. It is therefore essential this involvement is consistently, transparently and equitably factored into rail activities appropriate to both the potential impact and the benefit that can be gained from public involvement.
Noise-mitigation planning for rail infrastructure projects is also greatly assisted by effective community consultation during the project planning and assessment phases, such as planning focus meetings and consideration of written submissions, in line with the requirements of the EP&A Act. These processes allow for the community to participate in any mitigation selection process in a transparent, equitable and consistent way. In particular, effective public involvement is needed where impact assessment finds there will still be residual impacts even after the application of appropriate mitigation measures.
It is equally important for land-use planning authorities to adopt an interactive partnership with the rail industry to ensure that existing and planned rail corridor use is considered when making and/or determining land-use planning instruments, including rezoning proposals and development applications.