How the money machine may help to reduce railway noise in Europe

The need to reduce railway noise, particularly from freight transport in international traffic, is recognized by all stakeholders in the field. Solutions are currently available to provide a significant reduction, and research is underway to investigate further options. Several recent studies clearly show that noise abatement at the source (i.e., vehicles and track) are to be preferred over solutions that affect noise propagation (e.g., barriers) or noise reception (façade insulation) when it comes to overall life cycle cost. In spite of these three important conclusions, the necessary noise reduction at source is not yet taking place, with some small-scale exceptions. The parties involved agree that financial and economical constraints prevent the process of noise reduction from starting. The present paper presents the results of the second consensus building workshop in the STAIRRS project. It explores the possible financial and economic instruments that may help to launch the necessary developments.