The Hamburg wagon hire and rail logistics company VTG Aktiengesellschaft has tested new technical measures for wagon-specific noise reduction, directed by VTG and in cooperation with industry partners.
The findings show clearly that effective noise reduction can be achieved only through measures applied to the wheels and railway as a complete system.
“As a company dedicated to the railway, it is clear that, in addition to working on other potential innovations beyond the installation of the noise-reducing K-brake-block, we have to work on measures that make freight traffic on the railway quieter,” said Jürgen Hüllen, Chief Technology Officer of VTG.
“This means that both those living near the railway and customers will benefit equally from our innovative, high–performance wagon technology.”
For the test, carried out on the railway test circuit of the Czech testing agency VUKV, a bogie running gear, a noise-reducing wheel set coating system and a sound-attenuated wheel disk were tested on eight identical, new VTG tank wagons.
The tested running gear is the only running gear in Europe that ensures complete acoustic decoupling of the bogie from the wheelset, thereby ensuring maximum prevention of sound transmission into the wagon.
The test was carried out and certified in accordance with the officially recognised TSI Noise method of measurement and in cooperation with industry partners SKF/ContiTech, the Relius Coatings/BASF-Group and RAFIL.
“Overall, we achieved significant noise reduction in the tests in the Czech Republic with all three methods. However, our expectations were not fully met and we are working on further development of new instruments,” Hüllen explained.
Each of the three methods tested resulted in clear, measurable noise reduction but the individual effects of each measure cannot simply be added.
Hüllen also emphasises, however, that the additional noise reduction potential in terms of the wagon itself is limited and that the infrastructure also plays a large part in the generation of freight wagon noise.
Therefore, further significant and effective noise reduction can only be achieved if all parties involved in rail freight traffic – the wagon building industry and infrastructure managers – are engaged in developing solutions.
Moreover, both the development of noise reduction measures and the implementation of these involve high costs and levels of investment that also have to be borne by all parties.
VTG has already been installing the K-brake-block in every new wagon since 2007 and has now equipped more than 10% of the entire fleet with this noise-reducing component.
As early as 2005, VTG had 500 wagons built with the K-brake-block – two years before the applicable guideline (TSI NOISE) came into force – to gain experience in the use of this technology.
With the results of the tests in the Czech Republic, the company has made a further contribution to fundamental research into noise reduction for rail freight wagons.
