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The German prediction method for noise from railwaya nd tram lines, shunting and container yards to be built or modified wasrevised during the last 5years. As the result, the draft issue of anew "Schall 03 2006" has been prepared. The model is based on octave-band sound power levels describing the emission in different heights of different vehicles, noise sources and parts of noise sources, e.g., roughness of wheels and rails, pantograph noise, and propulsion noise. The description of sound propagation follows the methods of ISO 9613-2. Ap rocedure is included for introducing newa nd different vehicle or track types. With respect to the harmonised railway computation method to be used for the European Directive on Environmental Noise, recommendations are given for comparison with "Schall 03 2006" and, consequently,for improvements of the harmonised calculation method currently under development. PACS no. 43.50.Lj Received17December 2006, accepted 9June 2008.

Mainly, laboratory studies revealed traffic noise as a dominant environmental cause of sleep disturbances. They are less suitable to reflect situational or individual factors. In many countries noise pollution is limited at the legally defined night hours. Hence, the aim was to estimate the influence of timing of sleep determined by working hours, preferences of sleeping times related to individual factors like eveningness, age, gender, etc. During 10 nights, the sleep of 377 apparently healthy people was indicated by actimetry and sleep logs and related to the individual outdoor noise levels emitted either by railway or by road traffic. As expected, indicators of sleep were found to depend on timing of sleep and on individual variables as age, morning–eveningness, etc., whereas none of the various parameters of noise revealed significant relations to sleep disorders. However, source-related outdoor noise did not meet the real situation indoors. The impact of railway/road traffic noise on sleep at home cannot be judged yet, but has to be answered, because sleeping times were not covered in 50% of the cases by the legally defined night. Moreover, work flexibility is expected to increase as well as traffic density during the night.

An interdisciplinary study was made to compare the annoyance responses to railway noise and to road traffic noise. Acoustical measurements were taken in eight areas to assess the noise levels caused by railway and road traffic noise. Road traffic noise was predominant in four of the eight areas and railway noise in the other four areas. A total of 1600 residents were interviewed. The data allow the individuals’ annoyance responses to be related to the individual noise levels for each of the two sources. Some preliminary results of the not yet completed study with regard to the relative annoyance by the two sources are described. The general annoyance (24 h, by day and at night) is less for railway than for road traffic noise at equal noise levels. Also, the disturbances at night attributed to railway noise are less than those attributed to road traffic noise. In the daytime, the difference in the disturbance between railway and road traffic noise depends on the disturbance aspect considered: With regard to communication, there is a greater annoyance attributed to railway than to road traffic noise. With regard to outdoor recreation, road traffic noise is more disturbing than railway noise.