Community Response to Step-Changes in Railway Noise Exposure and Effects of Earthquakes

Since 2009, socio-acoustic surveys have been successively conducted in an area of Kyushu, Japan, along a conventional railway line adjacent to Kyushu Shinkansen line which was operated in March 2011. The area was divided into two at Kumamoto station: North area where the conventional railway line was elevated in March 2015 and South area where a new station was opened in March 2016. In April 2016, big earthquakes hit Kumamoto. Socio-acoustic surveys were carried out in South area in 2011 and 2017, and in North area in 2012 and November to December 2016. This study aims to investigate the effects of the railway elevation, the new station, and the earthquakes on railway noise annoyance. Exposure-annoyance relationship in South area is significantly higher in 2017 than in 2011 and that in North area is slightly higher in 2016 than in 2012. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied with highly annoyed as a dependent variable and Lden, sex, age, sensitivity to noise, usage of train, housing type, and damage of earthquakes as independent variables. Though the railway elevation and the opening of the new station did not significantly affect annoyance, the earthquakes significantly affect annoyance particularly in South area.