Health effects of railway-induced vibration combined with railway noise – A systematic review with exposure-effect curves

The combined health impact of concurrent railway noise and railway vibration exposure is not yet well understood. This systematic review gives an overview of epidemiological studies on health effects from railway vibration, aiming to quantify this association with exposure-effect curves. Moreover, the combined health effects of vibration and concurrent noise were investigated. We converted the vibration metric to an equivalent noise level and calculated an overall noise level by energetically summing the equivalent and railway noise level. The combined health effect was determined by using published evidence-based exposure-effect formulas. Studies included in this systematic review predominately investigated annoyance and self-reported sleep disturbances; no studies on manifest diseases were identified. For the combined effects of vibration and noise on “total” annoyance, the results based on the pooled analysis of CargoVibes project are recommended as conservative approach. Converting railway vibration into equivalent noise levels in dB may offer a pragmatic approach to assess the combined health effects of railway noise and railway vibration exposure. Future studies should include cardiovascular and mental diseases in addition to vibration-induced annoyance and sleep disturbances. Furthermore, future studies should include in-depth investigations of the interaction between railway noise and railway vibration to allow for a more accurate assessment of the railway-induced burden of disease.