Railway noise zone

In spatial planning, the authorities designate a noise zone around noise sources, where the noise level exceeds the recommended noise limit. Below is a review of recommended noise limits for railways.

The recommended noise limits for railway noise are published in an addendum from July 2007 to Guidelines from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, no. 1/1997 "Noise and Vibration from Railways" (in Danish) Additional guidelines, no. 1/1997 "Noise and Vibration from Railways" (in Danish). Like the recommended noise limits for roads, they are mainly used in spatial planning and expressed in terms of Lden. 

The noise limits for railway noise are:

• Recreational areas in the open country (areas for holiday cottages, camping sites, green areas, etc.): 59 dB
• Recreational areas near or in cities (parks, allotment gardens, city camping, etc.): 64 dB
• Dwelling areas (dwellings, areas for staying out of doors): 64 dB
• Public purposes (hospitals, institutions, schools, universities, etc.): 64 dB
• Commercial purposes (hotels, offices, etc.): 69 dB

There are also requirements for both the maximum noise level and vibration level of the individual dwellings. The recommended limit for the maximum level is 85 dB, and limit vibrations is 75 dB KB-weighted acceleration level.

To avoid vibrations a planning-related minimum distance is provide between track center and the mentioned areas (except for allotment gardens). If documented that the vibration can be observed there may be built closer to the track.