Traffic Noise and Inhabitant Health—A Comparison of Road and Rail Noise

Diurnal rail noise measurement, analysis, and evaluation of associated health impacts on residents living in the proximity of rail track area

In India, railway is the major transportation mode for carrying goods and people. The tracks for the movement of the rail were initially constructed in the city for the pre-eminence and expediency of the vantage of the people. Rapid modernization and increasing population in the city crammed the area around the railway tracks. Moving rail on the tracks passing through the city is not compatible, which is creating problems for the nearby residents. In the urban and suburban regions, the railway noise has become a major problem. This study was conducted to examine the perception of the physiological and psychological effects of railway noise in the nearby areas of railway stations in Delhi, India. For this purpose, 10 sites near the railway station were selected for the study. To assess the impact of railway noise pollution on the health of humans, a questionnaire survey was conducted. The data of 344 individuals were collected through the questionnaire survey and analyzed to get the perception towards railway noise. Noise level was monitored by a Sound Level Meter (SLM) and the equivalent noise level (Leq) in dB(A) was used to compute the noise pollution in three shifts, i.e., morning, noon, and evening time. Results showed that 57.65% of female and 86.11% of male respondents in the survey reported the disturbance due to railway noise. The level of noise pollution was found higher in the evening time as compared to the noon and morning period, which exceeds the limit set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at all the monitored locations. Findings of the study show that the primary cause of the health problems is railroad noise, which is negatively impacting the health of the residents, who are living in the proximity of the rail track region. The perception survey reported that headache, sleep disturbance, irritation, and stress are common health issues among the locals residing around the railway track proximity in Delhi.

Railway Urbanozems: Interrelation of Physicochemical and Integral Environmental Indicators

Urbanozems with typical pollution are formed along railways: heavy metals (HM), oil products, anthropogenic organic matter. Depending on the natural zone and intensity of the leaching regime, the accumulated pollution can have a different effect on the integral environmental indicators of soils – the toxicity and enzymatic activity. The aim of the work was to determine the influence of the railway on the physicochemical characteristics of adjacent urbanozems that are formed in the southern taiga zone and to find out the interrelation of these indicators with the toxicity and catalase activity of the soil. Samples of urbanozems were taken from the surface layer of 0-10 cm at the distance of 50 m west and east of the railway and at the distance of 100, 500, 1000 m of it (east). The pH, content of organic matter, humus, ammonium nitrogen, mobile forms of HM, mortality for Daphnia magna Straus, influence on bioluminescence of Escherichia coli Migula, and the catalase activity were determined in the samples. It was shown that the levels of toxicity and the activity of catalase are strongly related to the distance from the railway: Pearson’s coefficients (r) were -0.53 (D. magna), -0.69 (E. coli), 0.95 (catalase). However, the interrelation between the total pollution index (TPI) of metals and integral indicators is lower: r=0.50 for the pair “D. magna – TPI”, r=0.42 for “E. coli – TPI”, r=0.19 for “catalase – TPI”. Consequently, the reactions of living organisms and the activity of catalase were formed in response to a combination of pollutants, not to one group of compounds.

Exploring the Interactive Coercing Relationship between Urban Rail Transit and the Ecological Environment

The Chinese environment is experiencing the “U-Type” course from sharp deterioration to significant improvement. In order to achieve the fundamental improvement of the ecological environment, China has implemented several relevant policies and strategies. Among them, the development of urban rail transit, as an essential measure to improve the ecological environment in China, has attracted more and more attention, but the research on the interactive coercion relationship between rail transit and the ecological environment is minimal. Therefore, this study selected ten cities opening urban rail transit before 2005 in mainland China as research objects and established an urban rail transit and ecological environment comprehensive evaluation index system. Then, the interactive coercing model and coupling coordination model were used, and the dynamic relationship between urban rail transit and the ecological environment was explored. The research results in this study showed that (1) there is an apparent interactive coercion relationship between urban rail transit and the ecological environment, and the evolution trajectory conforms to a double exponential curve. (2) From 2006 to 2019, Wuhan’s ecological environment pressure index showed a continuous downward trend. The ecological environment improved the fastest. The rest of the cities showed a trend of first rising and then falling. (3) The type of coupling coordination degree of urban rail transit and ecological environment showed a changing coordination trend from severe incoordination—slight to incoordination—basic to coordination—good. Beijing has the highest degree of overall coordinated development in urban rail transit and the ecological environment. The results of this study can provide a theoretical reference for the realisation of the virtuous circle development of rail transit and the ecological environment.