Evaluation of acoustical comfort in passenger trains

Abstract

Acoustical comfort in Swedish passenger trains was evaluated using both a questionnaire survey and a laboratory study. The questionnaire survey was conducted on board the passenger trains in order to determine what sounds passengers find annoying. The questionnaire survey covered 380 randomly selected passengers aboard four types of passenger trains. The results showed that cellular phones and crying children as well as non-identified sources of noises such as rattling, squeaking and beating noises caused the most annoyance to passengers. The laboratory study included the recording and reproduction of the non-identified noise stimuli. The study was administered in order to mask the annoying noise stimuli by raising the background level. In three sessions, thirty-seven subjects from various professions performed the listening tests. One session consisted of the original non-identified noise stimuli with a total sound pressure level of 62 dBA, whereas the other two sessions consisted of modified noise stimuli. The modifications were made by adding higher background levels of 62 dBA and 65 dBA to each of the non-identified noise stimuli. The results showed that the masking effects not only reduced the annoyance but also enhanced the overall acoustical comfort.