Train noise unacceptable
When the Regional Rail Link project is complete, there will be up to 17 diesel trains every hour at peak time through Ardeer and Deer Park.
That is one train every 3½ minutes. The increase in frequency will lead to unacceptable levels of noise along our highly residential rail corridor.
Elevated noise not only causes annoyance and sleep disturbance, it can also cause hearing impairment, hypertension and ischemic heart disease.
Project planning has so far failed to adequately assess the impact of a vastly increased frequency of diesel train traffic and fails to include noise mitigation measures. This is despite the RRL’s noise impacts assessment report of 2011 acknowledging there will be a significant increase in noise, particularly affecting the corridor between Sunshine and Deer Park. According to the RRL Authority’s own assessment, noise levels will be between 50 and 74 decibels, averaged over a 15-hour period, for at least a couple of hundred metres either side of the tracks.
It is my belief that this is an underestimate, given the assessment does not appear to include the effects of the incline at Anderson Road, train idling, horn noise and trains pulling into and out of stations. Even so, the levels indicated should trigger investigation of noise mitigation strategies. Residents want a review of the noise assessment and funding for noise mitigation. Robyn Lutze, Ardeer
Pressure builds for hospital (Weekly, November 6):
The state government is cutting the hospital budget and can’t afford to build a new [hospital]. A region growing on an average of 8 per cent a year is unrealistic and is stretching the budget. Population growth is not something we “enjoy”, as economists claim, but is hampering the improvement and maintenance of public facilities such as education, roads and health. Tony Beaver
