Integrated study of mechanical and psychoacoustic performance across various ballasted railway track configurations

Paper in proceeding, 2026

Integrating mechanical and acoustic parameters in the designof new railway tracks can reduce the need for secondary noise mitigationmeasures. This study investigates the mechanical and acousticperformance of a wide range of ballasted railway track configurations usingtime-domain simulations. The track models include variations in railpad stiffness, under-sleeper pads, and baseplates, with equivalent pass-bysound pressure levels of track noise and psychoacoustic metrics evaluated.Sound pressure signals are predicted by convolving simulated structuralvibrations with acoustic Green’s functions derived from a 2.5D boundaryelement model of the track. Results show that configurations withstiff rail support and heavy baseplates tend to reduce both the overallsound pressure level and the perceived sharpness of the noise. Mechanicaltrade-offs are also identified; for instance, lower vibration and noisecan coincide with increased rail seat loads. The findings highlight thepotential of integrated track design to jointly optimise mechanical andacoustical performance of ballasted tracks.