Train horns: Broader social effects and pedestrian simulations
Train horns are used at railway level crossings as one of the controls to ensure the safe traversal of road users. However, train horns are very loud and have negative impacts, particularly for residents living near rail lines, with many reports of disrupted sleep patterns and the like.
Limited information is available on these negative effects in the Australasian environment. Part of this project will therefore study the broader effects of train horns on residents living near rail locations where train horns are used. It will provide baseline information on the effects of train horns on residents and provide opportunities for further research on alternative technologies.
The second part of this project will expand on an earlier Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation (ACRI) train horn effectiveness study based on driving simulator experiments and look at the effectiveness of train horns in warning pedestrian road users of approaching trains. This work will be conducted using virtual reality (VR) equipment and the experimental design will be informed by earlier ACRI research.
This project will complete the investigation of train horn effectiveness for a wide range of road users, and also explore broader community scenarios to inform transport industry organisations and policymakers of future train horn procedures and applications.
Participants
Project background
Train horns have additional effects other than improvements at railway level crossings and for road safety. Noise-related complaints and disturbances have regularly been reported by members of the community to many railway organisations. The sounding of train horns at night often leads to sleep interruption complaints, particularly in built-up environments.
Despite this, there is very limited objective evidence of the direct cause and relationship of disruption between critical safety elements such as the train horn. This study looks to address this with an objective approach.
The second part of this study will complete a series of pedestrian-based simulation experiments to fully understand the effectiveness and unintended impacts of train horns in the most common scenarios where humans interact with train horns as a warning device.
Project objectives
The principal objective of this project is to understand the effects of train horns on residents living near railway lines, assess the impact of train horns on sleep quality and contextualise the findings on sleep timing and functioning with environmental noise due to train horns.
The second objective of the study is to investigate how train horns are perceived by pedestrians and how they affect pedestrian behaviour around level crossings in terms of safety.
Project wrap-up and final report
This project has been completed, and a wrap-up of the project, along with a downloadable final report, is available at: Train horns: Pedestrian safety and residential wellness
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“Train Horns”- The objectives of pedestrian safety vs amenity disruption via noise effects may need care and possible refinement. Noise is a NIMBY issue, and track noise and freight train clanking in the small hours of the night are more likely to affect sleep. Is noise from horns separable?
Re pedestrian safety – those engaging in risky behaviors at unprotected crossings may have lived to tell the tale!, whether or not a horn had any effect on them is doubtful.
David,
Sleep deprivation resulting from train horns is not a NIMBY issue whatsoever. Sleep, food, shelter, access to clean drinking water etc; these are all basic human rights. Having their lifespan shortened due to only being able to sleep 3 or 4 hours a night is the abhorrent reality for many thousands of citizens. They have the right to sleep, the right to be healthy.
People – humans – have been living near train lines well before 24 x7 train services existed. Well before trains ran hundreds of times a day and well before thousands of train horn blasts permeated their homes around the clock without respite and started to ruin their lives.
Great study! We live in suburb near the spot where commuter and freight trains blast their horns day and night just 8km from the cbd in brisbane and would love to participate. Sleep deprivation, anxiety, we feel it all. The train station and track nearby has fencing and boom gates. The only way a pedestrian could get near the tracks is if they jump the fence and intentionally get down there, yet hundreds of residents are suffering from persistent noise pollution
I suffer from sleep deprivation specifically caused by train horns, Liam! You are wrong is all I have to say and something needs to be done about this. I would suggest not using the horn routinely, use only as a warning as the driver sees fit. Here in Melbourne metropolitain areas, the train horn is overzealously and routinely used. Can you please not say train horns do not cause sleep deprivation.
Hi Jim. Liam wrote in his comment that it is “not a NIMBY issue whatsoever.”
Train horns at Sherwood, Brisbane sem to have got considerably louder, more frequent, and running later into the night over the last year or so. The sleep patterns of my whole family have been disturbed. Have lived in the same house for 20 years, but prior to a year ago, horns rarely bothered a mention.
Train horns are blasted day and night every 15 minutes past my home. This was not the case for the last 20 years.
It is so frequent that they don’t serve any purpose as a warning. Apparently it is up to each driver in Melbourne to assess what kind of honk they see fit but when I observe the track for hours and there is no change whatsoever in the conditions, no workers or pedestrians near the track, no express trains and the horn is used at its loudest and longest I have to question its validity as a safety mechanism. Whistle boards are posted 400 metres from a rail pedestrian crossing that has automatically locking gates, bells and red flashing lights to warm pedestrians that a train is approaching. So why on earth is the train required to blast its horn 400m in either direction approaching the station? Even at 1.40am! It’s ludicrous and simply unnecessary.
Melbourne train regulations are the most antiquated in Australia and need a total overhaul.
This is affecting thousands of people and with the state govt passing legislation to build up areas within 300 m of public transport hubs then even more people will be affected.
With lights, bells, audible announcements and digitally displayed arrival messages of trains at any given station are enough warning/information for commuters to realise a train is arriving or leaving a station.
The honking has to stop.
The rules in Melbourne are an absolute joke. We had to move house because we couldn’t get used to the incessant horns. With two level crossing, pedestrian crossing and a station next to each other every train going in either direction would blast their horn 4 or 5 times in about 30 seconds. And that’s even though each level crossing had 2 boom gates, 2 pedestrian gates, 15 flashing lights, two bells AND a set of traffic lights.
When do we hear back from the working group? I am hating my life living next to the train line near a station. There are vline trains, freight trains and metro trains on the Craigeburn line blasting horns all day and night causing me severe sleep issues. Haven’t experienced this in any other developed world. Is this how Australia treats it’s residents who decide to live near public transport? Also why is it a safety precaution only in Melbourne and not in other cities?
Hi Raj,
The final report for that project is still under review.
This has been caused by two main drivers.
One, the “standard” for train horn volume stipulates a volume of 130db at 1 metre from the train. This standard was produced entirely by the RSSIB, which is a privately owned lobby group for the rail industry in AU and NZ. Rail operators pay the RSSIB considerable monies for their services. This volume of 130db at 1m is not obvious from the document as the numbers are provided at distances of 400m from the train. At the time of release of the document, no operators in Australia conformed to this document. There is no science backing this volume, it is entirely arbitrary. It has been set as high as the RSSIB and the rail industry can get away with without causing immediate hearing damage to all nearby pedestrians.
Two, the RSSIB produced a “code of practice” a few years ago. This code of practice was positioned as a reasonable way to govern the usage of train horns to the public and politicians. However, the reality is that it was a trojan horse and this code stipulates that train horns should meet the standard as per the above (which again, is an increase in horn volume, but that wasnt in the code itself), and further, that train horns should be sounded for durations of 1 or 2 seconds. This is also completely arbitrary and not grounded in science.
So in summary, rail operators have used the code of practice to increase the volumes of the vast majority of their fleet of trains to meet a standard the industry have set, and also now they sound the horns for longer.
Finally, the ONRSR, which is the national safety regulator, provides annual and historical statistics on accidents across Australian railways. You can download these for free from their website. You will see clearly that the number of accidents have not changed really much at all and some years there may be a handful of unfortunate fatalities, but hardly any, if any, are caused by train horns not being loud enough.
A wrap-up article for this project will be published on the morning of 16 July 2024. It will include a downloadable copy of the project’s final report.