Freight trains several hundred metres long rolling by bedrooms may cause hours of lost sleep, even if you do not live too close to a train track. Help is to be provided through the Loud Freight Trains Prohibition Act (Schienenlärmschutzgesetz) which came into force on July 20th 2017.  From 2020 on, only freight wagons with brake systems minimizing noise emissions coming from wagon wheels will be permitted. As opposed to conventional grey iron brake blocks, these modern systems preserve the wheel's surface and reduce noise.  

On behalf of the Federal Department of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Germany's Federal Railway Authority had called for bids for monitoring noise. 19 checkpoints are to be installed on tracks used frequently by freight traffic to gather data to be recorded and evaluated. These checkpoints were systematically located to record 66 percent of Germany’s freight traffic und thus to gain very significant data.  

This bid was won by Müller-BBM Rail Technolgies GmbH from Planegg near Munich. They have completed the project successfully. On a comparable project in Switzerland, MüllerBBM Rail Technolgies had gained precious knowledge helping people to enjoy more peaceful nights. Not very surprisingly, Managing Director Prof. Stefan Lutzenberger is very pleased: „Through working on this lighthouse project on behalf of Germany’s Federal Railway Authority we have created clarity for people living near frequently used freight tracks which is important for residents and rail companies alike. It helps everyone to gain knowledge to reduce noise emissions and thus to do your part to enable quieter traffic on rail tracks.“  

Lutzenberger shares the views of Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Andreas Scheuer, CSU) will mean improved quality of life for people in Germany.  

The results of the monitoring can be found at www.laermmonitoring.de.