Cost-Benefit Analysis of Rail-Noise Mitigation Programmes at European Level: Methodological Innovations from EURANO to STAIRRS

The STAIRRS project (2000-2002) is a follow-up of EURANO [1] and a Swiss study [2], in which the authors evaluated the efficiency of noise reduction measures in two European freight corridors. STAIRRS includes a cost-benefit analysis based on about 10,000 km of track modelled in seven countries. The benefits are defined in terms of the dB(A) experienced by those living in the rail corridors modelled. They are to be weighted by the number of persons benefiting each year from a noise reduction as different measures provide different time profiles for the reductions. We assume people’s preference for an early reduction in noise and will therefore experiment with a time weighting factor. The problem of the different life spans of measures making up a noise mitigation programme will be approached in two ways: (i) The costs will be discounted over the lifespan of each measure in an investment programme, and the benefits will be weighted in function of the average lifespan of a programme. (ii) The costs will be modelled for each programme over a 50-year period, but assuming noise reduction on an indefinite basis. The use of different discounting factors for both approaches should clarify the uncertainty implied by these two approaches.