Less noise but same level of safety

Noise reduction remains a major concern. Despite many improvements to reduce noise, sounds can certainly be heard in the environment nor can we eliminate it completely. We can, however, do as much as possible to reduce disturbing noises further and further.

Noise is sometimes at odds with safety, as many of our processes use warning signals. We are reducing the noise of our activities as much as possible while staying within safety margins.

Despite our efforts to lower noise, you may still experience noise nuisance. So we will continue working to reduce noise nuisance even further where possible.

Train noises are part of the noise nuisance. One element is the noise from the railway crossing bells. We are replacing the bells at the crossings around Wijk aan Zee. The new bells adjust to ambient noise, which means they make less noise when things are quiet. The first bells have now been installed. Another measure is lubricating the rails. This reduces train noise in bends and also limits wear. We are investigating whether we can apply this on a large scale.

We have also achieved considerable results in shunting activities. For example, all train waggons now have buffers and we have reduced the number of emergency signals on our locomotives by two thirds.