Strategic noise map – 2011 – major railways – Lden – contours

Strategic rail noise map with more than 30 000 train passages per year according to RL 2002/49/EC, the reference year of which is 2011. The noise map shall indicate the noise exposure of the environment. The noise shall be expressed in the parameter Lden. The LDEN level is a weighted annual average sound pressure level over the 24 times when the evening and night levels are relatively higher, which corresponds to the finding that noise pollution is generally perceived as more onerous in the evening and night. Therefore, European research shows that a Lden is a relatively good predictor of the extent to which residents may be affected. These noise maps shall be updated every 5 years. The strategic noise maps with reference years 2006, 2011 and 2016 were calculated using an old calculation method. From the strategic noise maps with reference year 2021, a new calculation method was used. This is a new joint European calculation method mandatory for all Member States from the mapping exercise with reference year 2021. As this calculation method differs from that used in previous mapping rounds, it is not appropriate to compare the results of reference year 2021 with previous editions (2006, 2011 and 2016). It cannot be ruled out that differences in calculated exposure are merely due to the application of this new calculation method and are not due to an increased or reduced exposure.