Please provide information regarding the work done on the Central Line between Bethnal Green and Mile End in the past year to prevent noise and vibration. If no work has been done to reduce vibration and noise in the past year please provide information as to when this will be done. Please provide information regarding monitoring of noise and vibration on the Central Line between Bethnal Green and Mile End.

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Dear

TfL Ref: FOI-1730-1819

Thank you for your email received by Transport for London (TfL) on 30 September 2018.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.  I can confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked:

Please provide information regarding the work done on the Central Line between Bethnal Green and Mile End in the past year to prevent noise and vibration.

This is one of the locations where current technology and the age of the track mean that it is not technically practicable to reduce the noise and vibration any further. However we are continuing to investigate and monitor the noise on this stretch of the line, but the unique and historic infrastructure of the London Underground makes noise reduction very challenging. Where it is practicable to reduce noise, we do – and we have reduced the noise for hundreds of properties affected by rail noise.

If no work has been done to reduce vibration and noise in the past year please provide information as to when this will be done.

Whilst rail grinding is not deemed as an engineering method to reduce noise, some residents have experienced a reduction in noise levels following grinding. Rail grinding is primarily undertaken to reduce the growth rate of cracks and to improve the wheel-rail interface which can cause noise.

We will undertake rail grinding at this location in February 2019, with the intention to improve the wheel-rail interface. There may be a reduction in noise level however this is not guaranteed.

Please provide information regarding monitoring of noise and vibration on the Central Line between Bethnal Green and Mile End.

Please find the attached rail roughness of the area for your information. The rail roughness measurements confirm an elevated rail roughness levels between 720 and 880m which are the likely cause of the noise at this site. Rail roughness is caused by general wear and tear.

Furthermore, the noise measurements in the below tables are from residential properties in the vicinity of the location in question.

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.

Yours sincerely

Eva Hextall

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

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