Comparative analysis of European models for railway noise prediction

According to Directive 2002/49/EC relating to environmental noise assessment and management, all EU countries are obliged to make strategic noise maps for heavily populated areas. Some countries developed their own national method for noise prediction. In addition to road traffic, a railway traffic is, also, significant noise source in urban areas. This paper provides an overview of several models used in European countries for prediction of sound power of railway noise sources and attenuation due to sound propagation between noise source and receiver point.