Shaping the railway of the 21st century 25 October 2005, Paris Rail Freight Noise Abatement in Europe UIC/UIP/CER Action Programme Noise Reduction

Shaping the railway of the 21st century25 October 2005, Paris

Rail Freight Noise Abatement in Europe

UIC/UIP/CER Action Programme Noise Reduction



Objective

Sustainable freight transport operation demands railways to meet with 2 fundamental requirements:

Increase railways transport output

and Reduce environmental impact



output

environmental impact

Uncoupling of increasing output and environmental impact

Necessity



Challenge

Railways have great advantages regarding climate protection and air emissions compared to the other modes of transport.

The main environmental impact and challenge is the reduction of noise.



• Cost neutral equipping and retrofitting of wagons with cast-iron brake blocks to composite brake blocks (K/LL).Medium-term reduction of noise Medium-term reduction of noise

emissions by about 8-10dB(A)emissions by about 8-10dB(A)

• Gradual introduction of „Low Noise Technology“Long-term reduction of noise emission Long-term reduction of noise emission

up to 20dB(A)up to 20dB(A)

Main topics



Decision UIC /UIP/ CER taken in June 1998

Technics

Developing

technical

equipments

EU Relations

Funding and

Financing

Retro -fitting

Planning ,

Scenarios ,

Priorities

Actionplan Noise Reduction Freight Wagon



Retrofitting

The registration of the freight wagon pool has completed:

The european railway companies will use ~ 600.000 freight wagonsfreight wagons in international transport, which have to be retrofitted to composite brake blocks (K/LL)



RetrofittingPriority: Reduction of Freight traffic noise

600’000 existing wagons in the near future in EuropePurchase of new vehicles: some 1000 - 10’000/a Only new low noise vehicles will not solve problem! Retrofitting of existing fleet must be done

Noise abatement to be done in efficient way• CBA Study results: Noise abatement on vehicles saves money

for infrastructure• Saved money might be used for funding fast retrofitting• Resulting noise abatement most cost effective



Cost-Benefit Analyses of Noise Reduction Measurements in Europe ( STAIRRS )

0,00

50,00

100,00

150,00

200,00

250,00

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Present costs, EURO (in billions)

Pre

se

nt

be

ne

fits

(p

ers

> 6

0 d

B)

in m

illio

ns

Freight rolling stock improvement

Tuned absorbers

with k-blocks

with k-blocksand opt.wheels

Grinding

Noise barriers

with k-blocks

2m

4m

all measures

with grinding



STAIRRS Conclusions• Retrofitting hase - by far - the best cost-effectiveness

• Used alone, K-blocks achieve 2/3 of the possible benefits

• Noise barriers, especially high ones, have a poor cost-effectiveness

• K-blocks improve the total cost-effectiveness and lower the total costs when used in combination with other measures



Noise-reduction scenarios without and with retrofitted wagons



0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0 20 40 60 80 100

share of noise optimised rolling stock [%]

no

ise

em

iss

ion

los

s [

dB

(A)]

ChallengeThe freedom of wagon circulation in international freight transport operation requires participation of all European railway companies in UIC action programme as far as possible



Status of technical developments

Homologation of K-blocks and provisional homologation of LL-blocks

Progress in expanding K- and LL-block product portfolio

There are now 3 types of K- brake blocks and likewise 3 types of LL-brake blocks (in the context of 2-year service testing) by different manufacturers available for the fitting out of wagons



Composite brake blocksType K:

– higher friction coefficient than cast iron brake blocks

– conversion of brake equipment necessary

– cost neutrality for new wagons

Type LL: – similar friction coefficient to cast iron

brake blocks

– no modification of brake equipment necessary

– (more or less) cost neutrality for existing wagons



The Simulation tool is ready for use and enables UIC members· to rate costs and benefits of composite break block use in freight wagon fleets with

different structures (break even)

· to consider the cost development of different retrofitting scenarios and rules of and maintenance within 20 years (LCC)

· to show the values of wagon mileage for economical retrofitting

· to show the values of necessary financial support from EU and national authorities

· to prepare base for retrofitting scenarios (priorities!) align with given target costs

Show theShow the most efficient way of noise reduction most efficient way of noise reduction for the single railway for the single railway company as well as the railway mode as a wholecompany as well as the railway mode as a whole

Cost Simulation Tool: FreightSimSilent



• self running access runtime version

(no access licence necessary!)

• languages: English, French,

German, (easily expandable)• self ru

nning access runtime version

(no access licence necessary!)

• languages: English, French,

German, (easily expandable)

All values fictiveAll values fictive





break evenbreak even

Savings compared to status quo (GG)

Investment costsprofit and loss,

cumulated

All values fictive

All values fictive



Retrofitting using K-blocks– Retrofitting investment costs 3 Bill. € for all Europe– Costs confirmed in several independent studies, such as 3dparty

assessment by AEAT NL– Experience on LCC of several 100’000 km available

Retrofitting using LL-blocks– Retrofitting investment costs could reach ~1Bill. € for all Europe– Costs have to be investigated more in detail, as K-blocks may

also have to be used for some wagon types– Experience on LCC in progress, not yet available

Life Cycle Costs– Will be developed in 2006– Will form deciding factor to choose specifically most cost efficient

technology (LL- or K-block)

Actual knowledge on costs



Technics– technical problems of retrofitting nearly solved– K-blocks homologated– LL-blocks provisionally homologated– expansion of break block product portfolio on the way

Retrofitting– quantity of freight wagons for retrofitting defined– retrofitting process most cost efficient, when within normal

maintanance cycles– choice of technology (K- or LL) mainly depends on remaining

lifetime and mileage of the wagons – knowledge of LCC and simulation model allows to find most cost

efficient solution in 2006

Funding– Will be necessary

Conclusions



Thank you for your attention!

Documents

Shaping the railway of the 21st century 25 October 2005, Paris Rail Freight Noise Abatement in Europe UIC/UIP/CER Action Programme Noise Reduction