The effect of combined exposure to noise and vibrations from rail traffic on sleep: results from the follow-up study "Living in the vicinity of the railway"

As a result of policy aims to improve accessibility and achieve climate targets, an increase in rail traffic is foreseen for a while. It is therefore expected that in the future more problems will arise due to the vibrations and noise that trains produce. It is demonstrated that most problems are caused by freight trains, predominantly tracking during the night, hence affecting sleep. Research has shown that both noise and vibrations from rail traffic can affect sleep; evidence on the impact of combined exposures is scarce. To investigate the effect of combined exposure to noise and vibrations from rail traffic on self-reported sleep disturbance, we used data from a survey aimed to investigate people's reactions on railway vibrations. In 2021, 17,189 people of 16 years and older, living within 300 meters of a railway track in The Netherlands were invited to fill in a questionnaire. Exposure to vibration and noise levels from rail traffic during the night were modelled and linked to the addresses of the 5,611 (33%) participants. We used logistic regression models to test the associations between rail traffic vibration or noise exposure and sleep disturbance for different noise and vibration exposure groups. This paper presents preliminary results.