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. 2024 Jun 16;21(6):783.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph21060783.

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

Takashi Morihara  1 , Yasuhiro Murakami  2 , Koji Shimoyama  3 , Makoto Morinaga  4 , Shigenori Yokoshima  5 , Sohei Tsujimura  6 , Yasuhiro Hiraguri  7 , Takashi Yano  8
Affiliations

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

Takashi Morihara et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

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; earthquake; sleep disturbance; step change.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Survey area stretching from 5 km north of Kumamoto station to 12 km south of the station, with a width of 150 m on the east and west sides of the railways.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Process of railway construction in north area. (a) Conventional railway moved to the 1st temporary line; (b) construction of the elevated KSL; (c) operation of KSL; (d) conventional railway moved to the 2nd temporary line; (e) construction of the elevated conventional railway line; (f) operation of the elevated conventional railway line.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The 2nd temporary line in the northern area.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Elevated conventional railway and KSL in the northern area.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The new station in the southern area.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Conventional railway line on the ground and the elevated KSL in the southern area.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Contrast of Lnight–%MSD relationships for detached houses in the northern area between 2012 and 2016.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Contrast of Lnight–%MSD relationships for apartment houses in the northern area between 2012 and 2016.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Contrast of Lnight–%MSD relationships for detached houses in the southern area between 2011 and 2017.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Contrast of Lnight–%MSD relationships for apartment houses in the southern area between 2011 and 2017.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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