A longitudinal study into response to vibrations and noise due to rail traffic: design, questionnaire and response

Sendrick Simon 1 , Elise van Kempen, Harm van Wijnen, Arnaud Kok, Nick Mabjaia, Irene van Kamp RIVM, P.O.Box 1 3720BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

ABSTRACT Despite a call for attention already for years, the health effects of vibrations due to rail traffic have been understudied. In the meanwhile, rail traffic (passenger and freight) is increasing and regula- tions for vibration need to be adapted accordingly. In order to fill this gap and with the aim to bet- ter inform policy, a baseline survey was performed in 2013 among people of 16 years and older liv- ing within 300 meters from a railroad track (N= 4,927). Based on the results and in view of the railroad expansion in the Netherlands, monitoring was advised. In 2019 and 2021 the measure- ments were repeated in participants who indicated that they could be contacted again. This resulted in 1,349 and 784 participants in measurement 1 and 2 respectively. This allows studying trends in effects while accounting for co-determinants and changes in exposure, providing the building blocks for further development of policy and regulations on railway vibration. This paper provides a description of the study design, questionnaire and response. Since we are currently analyzing the data, the first results will be presented at the conference.

1. INTRODUCTION

The health effects of vibrations due to trains have been rarely studied among residents. In order to gain more insight in the nature and magnitude of these effects and in whom these do occur, in 2013 a survey “ Living Along the Railroad” was held by RIVM among persons of 16 year and older living within 300 meters from a railroad track in the Netherlands [1,2]. To this end, 16,000 participants were recruited by a postal invitation. Their addresses were selected on the basis of distance to the railroad track, building year of the dwelling, and soil type. Situational factors were also accounted for such as train intensities and contextual factors such as the number and types of trains, and speed. Information was gathered by means of a questionnaire about annoyance, sleep disturbance, self-reported health, and their determinants. 4927 persons filled in the questionnair e. (response rate = 31,6%). Based on the results, it was estimated that on average 20% of the people in the Netherlands of 16 years and older living within 300 meters from the railroad track experienced severe annoyance from vibrations caused by trains. Annoyance was primarily related to vibration from freight trains, with and estimated percentage highly annoyed of 20% versus 3% from passenger trains. The estimated percentage of highly sleep disturbed was 16% for freight trains and 4% for passenger trains in the total target pop- ulation [1,2].

Based on the results and in view of the railroad expansion, monitoring was advised. In 2019 the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water management asked RIVM to carry out a repeated meas- urement among people who participated in the study "Living Along the Railroad" in 2013, who had indicated that they could be re-approached. In 2019 and in 2021 RIVM did

1 Sendrick.Simon@rivm.nl

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a repeated measurement among participants who indicated that they could be contacted again for follow-up studies In these repeated measures we compare participants with themselves in order to monitor trends in context, exposure and effects [3].

This paper describes the study design, questionnaire and response of a longitudinal study (three measurements) into the trends in annoyance and sleep disturbance due to rail traffic related vibrations and non-vibration co-determinants.

2. METHODS

2.1. Sampling and Recruitment

Of the 4,927 people who participated in 2013, 3,421 indicated that they could be contacted for further research. In the fall of 2019, they were invited to fill in an online questionnaire or a written questionnaire at request. Two reminders were sent [3]. In September 2021, 1,189 invitation letters were sent to participants that had participated in the measurement in 2019, and who had indicated that they could be contacted for further research. In 2021 they were invited to fill in an online ques- tionnaire. After the first invitation, two reminders were sent with an interval of two weeks.

For both measurements, we requested that the same person who filled in the questionnaire in 2013, filled in the questionnaire in 2019 and 2021. To further increase the response a prize was raffled during each measurement among the participants.

2.2. Procedure

The online questionnaire used during the measurements of 2019 and 2021 was similar to the one used in the measurement of 2013 [1,2]. The information that we gathered with this questionnaire was about perception, satisfaction and experience of the participants about vibrations from the rail- way track and other sources, about their direct living environment, their noise situation and how they think about living alongside a railway track, and housing features. In 2021, also some demographics that could have changed between 2013 and 2021 were measured again (work situation, education).

2.3. Questionnaire

By means of a questionnaire (made as much as possible of national and international stand- ards), we gathered information about the following aspects: (i) perception and experience of vibra- tions from the railway track and other sources (incl. annoyance and sleep disturbance), (ii) perception and experience of noise situation (incl. annoyance and sleep disturbance due to noise from the railway track), (iii) perception and satisfaction with direct living environment, (iv) demographics of the par- ticipant and his family characteristics, (v) how people think about living alongside a railway track (including attitudes, worries and acceptance), (vi) health (incl. general health and sleep quality) and (vii) construction of the participants house.

2.4. Exposure estimates of vibration

In the study of 2021, vibration strength was modeled by using the improved and latest version of the Dutch calculation model for railway vibrations (OURS, version 2.0, January 2022). The same would be done retrospect for the study of 2013 and 2019. The OURS model uses information about situational and contextual factors such as the number and types of trains, type of soil and speed of the trains. The maximum vibration strength of all passages in a week (Vdir,max) and the root-mean- square (RMS) have been chosen as indicators of exposure [3]. The Vdir,max was chosen because this

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variable, together with the Vper, has been used for several decades in the Netherlands for the assess- ment of vibrations[6].

3. RESULTS

3.1 Participants

Figure 1 shows the field work for the three consecutive studies. The first field work took place in the period of October till end November 2013. In this year a total of 4,927 (31,6%) persons com- pleted the questionnaire (online and written). The next field work took place in 2019 from mid-Oc- tober till begin December. From the 3,421 participants that were invited a total of 1,349 (39,4%) completed the online or written version of the questionnaire. In 2021 a total of 820 persons completed the online questionnaire. From these 820 persons, 36 were new residents at an address included in the previous studies. The former residents whom participated in 2013 and 2019 either moved or died. Therefore, these 36 new residents were discarded from the study leading to a total of 784 persons (66.7%) that have participated in the previous studies.

The most common reasons that were given to not participate in these studies were; relocation or death of the participants, not having time to fill the questionnaire, being a new resident at the address and forgotten to fill the questionnaire.

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Figure 1: Participation flowchart.

Table 1 gives an overview of the number of participants per distance category, that has completed the questionnaire in 2013, 2019 and 2021. Here it’s illustrated that the closer the participants live to the railroad track, the higher the response of the participants in all the three measurements.

Table 1 Number of participants per distance to railroad track in 2013, 2019 and 2021 Distance to railroad

Number of partici-

Number of partici-

Number of partici-

track (m)

pants and response rate in 2013

pants and response rate in 2019

pants and response rate in 2021 < 50 2,776 (34,7%) 845 (41,6%) 507 (72,3%) 50-100 1,394 (29,0%) 346 (37,5%) 193 (60,5%) 100-300 757 (23,7%) 158 (33,8%) 84 (61,8%) Total 4,927 (31,6%) 1,349 (39,4%) 784 (66,7%) 3.2 Characteristics of study population

Table 2 illustrates some general characteristics of the study population. The percentage of men that participated in the study has increased from 53% in 2013 to 61% in 2021. Also the number of highly educated participants is relatively high in all three measurements with percentages of 46, 50 and 53% respectively. Home ownership is also relatively high amidst the participants at 69, 81 and 85%, respectively. 100% of the participants in 2013 till 2021 have lived for at least five years at the current address. Table 2:Characteristics of study populations

Study population

Participants measu-

Participants measu-

Participants measu-

characteristic

rement

rement

rement

2013

2019

2021 Age (yrs)

6% 47% 47% Sex Men Women

16-44 45-64 65 and older

33% 44% 23%

22% 55% 23%

53% 47%

58% 42%

61% 39% Educational level

3% 21% 30% 46%

1% 18% 31% 50%

1% 15% 31% 53% Home owner 69% 81% 85% Duration of residence

Low Medium I Medium II

High

71%

85%

100% At the moment of writing this paper, the modulation of the exposure to vibration due to trains for the measurement in 2021 were completed. Next we will do the retrospect modulation of the expo- sure for the study of 2013 and 2019 with OURS. Currently, we are calculating noise exposure levels

(at least 5 year)

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for all participants in the study of 2021. Exposure to rail traffic noise will be expressed in L den and L night in dB. These calculations will be linked to the questionnaire data. Additional information about level of urbanization, speed of trains and the numbers and types of trains will be used to en- rich the questionnaire data at address level of the participants. 4. CONCLUSIONS

This paper describes the design of a longitudinal study among people of 16 years and older living within 300 meters from a railroad track in the Netherlands. The number of participants in 2013 is 3,497, in 2019 it’s 1,189 and, for 2021 it’s 784 with response rates of respectively 31,6, 39,4 and 66,7%. In table 1 we can see that the closer the participants live to the railroad the higher the response. While in table 2 we can see that in the last eight years the percentage of women par- ticipating in this study is declining. On the other hand the study population is highly educated, the majority are home owners and have lived there more than 5 years. At the conference the first results about annoyance, sleep disturbance and the influence of exposure to vibration due to trains and non-vibration factors will be presented. 5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project was funded by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. 6. REFERENCES

1. Van Kamp, I, E. Van Kempen, H. Van Wijnen, E. Verheijen, T. Istamto, O. Breugelmans, L. Dirven

and A. Koopman, Health effects of vibrations due to trains, pp. 599-603. Euronoise 2015, Maastricht 2. Van Kamp I, van Kempen EEMM, van Wijnen HJ, Verheijen E, Istamto T, Breugelmans ORP, Dir-

ven EM, Koopman A (2015) Wonen langs het spoor : Gezondheidseffecten van trillingen door trei- nen [ Health effects of vibration due to trains ] RIVM rapport 2014-0096 In Dutch 3. van Kamp, I., van Kempen, E. E. M. M., Simon, S. N., Mabaja, N., Verheijen, E., & van Wijnen, H.

(2021). Herhaalmeting Wonen langs het Spoor. RIVM Report nr RIVM rapport 2021-0103; Re- peated measurement Living along the railroad track (2013- 2019) abstract in English 4. Van Kamp, , U. Müller, E. van Kempen ,O. Breugelmans FF. Mendolia , A. Hoff E.-M.

Elmenhorst A. Koopman D. Aeschbach (2017) The effect on sleep of nocturnal exposure to noise and vibration from rail traffic. Proceedinsg ICBEN, 2017 Zurich. 5. ISO standard question (ISO/PRF TS 15666) Acoustics — Assessment of noise annoyance by means

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