The thread on "worst" tube lines mentions that the Southern (newer) Jubilee and Battersea Northern parts are extremely noisy. Is there some reason (safety-related, environmental) why that's the case? It's not good for the passengers, after all...
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Why are newer lines noisy?
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Russel
Established Member
The Central is also awful for noise between Liverpool Street and Stratford.
My son hates loud noises and covers his ears on this stretch, on Saturday it was that bad I almost joined him in covering my ears too.
My son hates loud noises and covers his ears on this stretch, on Saturday it was that bad I almost joined him in covering my ears too.
Not absolutely sure, but I would have thought the bigger tunnels are a factor, as well as higher speeds
Also concrete panel linings instead of iron rings.
bramling
Veteran Member
Higher speeds will be a factor in places, however this isn't the full story as Battersea is currently limited to 50 mph which used to be reached in places in olden times without too much issue (Central Line between Mile End and Stratford even in 62 stock days).
I suspect the bigger issue is the extensive use of rail grinding these days, which tends to leave behind the annoying high-pitch sound. This is an activity which I'm not even sure LU carried out in the 90s, but nowadays it is done very regularly. It essentially prolongs the life of rail, and is very significantly cheaper overall than re-railing.
Combine higher speeds and frequent rail grinding, and there's probably the answer. You might also add ATO to the mix, as the nature of every train being driven in exactly the same way seems to wear the track in particular ways.
There's a separate issue with the use of a specific type of track system as part of the preparations for Night Tube, however this only applies on certain curved sections of track.
Thanks to all for the responses. I always wear noise-cancelling headphones on the tube as I find it very noisy and the music also deals with tannoy spam. When I don't wear headphones (i.e. when travelling with my wife) I'm often shocked by the noise
Isn't that because there was next to no long welded rail anywhere until the mid-1990s?
Snow1964
Established Member
Was flicking, and see Vossloh have just released their results, with picture of a high speed grinding machine. Just out of interest do we use these in UK?
Vossloh record results in 2022
The order book of Vossloh, which specializes in the supply of track components and track machines, reached a record value of 1.25 billion euros in 2022 (+31.6%
www.railway.supply
I always thought this was the main thing for the Jubilee at least. You can clearly tell the difference between Finchley Rd - Baker Street; Baker Street - Green Park and Green Park - Canning Town
I don't think it's the material more that the iron rings have extrusions to them which act as baffles and help deaden the sound.
A bit like these roof mounted baffles in an office:
Whereas modern tube tunnels, like the Northern line extension below, are much smoother:
AndrewPSSP
Member
Going into the new Northern line Bank SB the noise is ear-piercingly loud, it feels worse on the platform than on the train in my opinion!
william.martin
On Moderation
The Jubilee is so loud that I use the district and DLR to get from Westminster to canary wharf if I'm not in a rush
Was flicking, and see Vossloh have just released their results, with picture of a high speed grinding machine. Just out of interest do we use these in UK?
Vossloh record results in 2022
The order book of Vossloh, which specializes in the supply of track components and track machines, reached a record value of 1.25 billion euros in 2022 (+31.6%
We use Rail Grinders, yes, both on the national network, and on LU. They are quite a sight (and sound) when working. There’s various videos of them at work on youtube.
Blindtraveler
Established Member
Not strictly on topic but it was mentioned up thread about there being a 50 mph speed limit on the Battersea section at the moment, why is this?
321over360
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The Eastbound running Tunnel on the Central Line between Stratford & Leyton is back to being very noisy again, despite recently it turning into a weird howl that wasnt as painful on the ears that is still evident on the Westbound Tunnel at the Stratford end so whatever was done during the engineering works seems to have already failed given how noisy it already has become in less than a month.
I thought there was some kind of randomised fuzzing for exactly this reason, so that the trains don't e.g. begin braking in exactly the same spot?
The engineering works in April/May was for track renewal between Leyton and Leyton tunnel mouth and the engineering works in March was for rail grinding between Queensway and Leyton.
bramling
Veteran Member
The entire Northern Line is capped at 50 mph, due to longstanding issues with the braking performance of the trains. This has been the case ever since ATC/ATO came in.
I’m not sure how much 62 mph (100 kph) running there would be, but there are a few longer sections where it could certainly be touched.
The victoria line was fitted with noise reduction ledges when first built to stop noise getting from the rails and bogies to the higher parts of the tunnels where the passengers were. No idea if they are still there or if they are fitted on any other lines.
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