Sleep Disturbance Caused by Step Changes in Railway Noise Exposure and Earthquakes

Takashi Morihara (), Yasuhiro Murakami, Koji Shimoyama, Makoto Morinaga, Shigenori Yokoshima, Sohei Tsujimura, Yasuhiro Hiraguri and Takashi Yano
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Takashi Morihara: Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Ishikawa College, Tsubata Town, Kahoku-gun, Ishikawa 929-0392, Japan
Yasuhiro Murakami: Sojo University, Kumamoto 860-0082, Japan
Koji Shimoyama: Aviation Environment Research Center, Organization of Airport Facilitation, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0011, Japan
Makoto Morinaga: Department of Architecture, Daido University, Nagoya 457-8530, Japan
Shigenori Yokoshima: Research Division, Kanagawa Environmental Research Center, Hiratsuka 254-0014, Japan
Sohei Tsujimura: Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ibaraki University, Hitachi 316-8511, Japan
Yasuhiro Hiraguri: Department of Architecture, Kindai University, Higashi Osaka 577-8502, Japan
Takashi Yano: Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Kyushu Shinkansen and conventional railway lines run parallel in the areas 5 km north of Kumamoto Station (northern area) and 12 km south of the station (southern area). Following the operation of the Kyushu Shinkansen Line in 2011, the adjacent conventional railway line in the north was elevated, a new station was operated in the south, and large earthquakes struck the Kumamoto area from March to April 2016. Sleep disturbances were compared before and after the interventions and earthquakes based on noise source (Shinkansen and conventional railways), area (northern and southern), and house type (detached and apartment) through socio-acoustic surveys from 2011 to 2017. The Shinkansen railway caused significantly less sleep disturbances in detached houses in the north after compared to before the earthquakes, presumably due to more frequent closures of bedroom windows in northern detached houses following the earthquakes. The Shinkansen railway caused significantly more sleep disturbances in apartments in the south after compared to before the earthquakes, presumably because the Shinkansen slowed down immediately after the earthquakes and returned to normal speed during the survey, suddenly increasing the noise exposure. There was no significant difference in the other six cases investigated. Overall, the interventions may not have caused significant differences in sleep disturbances. This article expands on the congress paper by Morihara et al. presented in the “Community Response to Noise” session at the 52nd International Congress and Exhibition on Noise Control Engineering in Makuhari, Japan, organized by the International Institute of Noise Control Engineering.

Keywords: Shinkansen railway; conventional railway; sleep disturbance; step change; earthquake (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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