European Rail Sector Supports Railway Noise Abatement Initiative
August 28, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
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The European rail sector came out in support of the European Commission (EC) commitment to the topic of retrofitting existing rail freight wagons in order to reduce noise emission.
In their joint contribution to a commission consultation, several rail transport associations requested that noise abatement measures must not jeopardize the sector's competitiveness and the railways' role in a sustainable transport system, including:
- Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER).
- European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM).
- European Rail Freight Association (ERFA).
- International Union of Railways (UIC).
- International Union of Private Wagons (UIP).
- International Union of combined Road-Rail transport companies (UIRR).
While the railways order all new vehicles with "silent" composite brake blocks, the challenge is to retrofit the existing fleet of freight wagons.
Today, about 600,000 freight wagons are in operation in Europe. The cost of retrofitting a vehicle with composite brake blocks amounts to €4500 per wagon.
At the same time, according to a recent CER/UIC study, the 25 member states of the European Union (EU-25) are expected to invest a total of €10 billion in passive noise abatement measures such as noise screens and building insulation.
However, various studies demonstrated that allocating funds to rail freight wagon retrofitting with composite brake blocks would be more cost-efficient than investing into passive noise abatement measures.
The rail freight sector requested that the commission provide financial schemes to enable public investments in rolling stock retrofitting, which according to the rail sector, would help EU-25 save money.
The stakeholders reject any legally binding measures that would create a new financial burden for the industry leading to increased costs.
Source: International Union of Railways (UIC).