In Germany, the number of “silent” wagons increased by almost 40%

In Germany, 137,000 freight cars with new noise-reducing brake pads were registered in September this year, up 39 percent from the end of 2019.

Due to this, the noise of passing by freight trains is almost 10 decibels less than previously, informs the railway magazine Railway Supply, citing urm.media.

According to Allianz pro Schiene, a year after the introduction of a ban on noisy freight trains, a decrease in the level of “railway noise” is recorded in Germany.

For example, over the past two and a half years in Germany, the number of freight trains producing less than 86 decibels of sound has increased from 56 to 90 percent. Note that Germany is the first EU country to impose a ban on the use of particularly noisy freight wagons.

In other EU countries, on certain sections of the railways, such a ban will come into force from December 2024.

Prior to this, the European Commission will provide financial assistance to railway companies to switch to silent brake pads.

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