NMBS/SNCB has found a solution to the legal dispute arising from noise pollution caused by stationary diesel trains at the Lokeren station. The Belgian railway company is erecting a temporary noise barrier made of shipping containers, nearly 250 meters long.

The stacked containers, representing an investment of 300,000 euros, will be placed near the former Track 5 and are intended to allow trains, which have been suspended before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m. following the court ruling, to resume service.

Wall of 38 containers

The 38 containers, approximately 2.6 meters high, will be placed side by side in two layers of 19 containers each, so that when stacked, they easily exceed five meters in height. Although steel is relatively soundproof, the containers will also be fitted with special soundproofing panels. Pending the installation of those sound panels, a double-decker train will remain on Track 4 to serve as an additional noise buffer.

Once the Antwerp-based contractor Transpico has installed all the containers, NMBS/SCNB will conduct new noise measurements at the property lines of nearby residents. The company hopes that the new construction will bring it back into compliance with noise standards.

Probably for a few years

Normally, very little sound penetrates the steel walls of the containers – since the sound has to bend around the edges or over the top, and the higher and closer to the source it is, the greater the acoustic shadow effect. But bare steel containers reflect sound, which van shift the noise to other areas. That’s why special sound panels are used: they absorb sound rather than simply reflect it.

“It’s a temporary measure, but temporary in a slightly broader sense,” says NMBS/SNCB. It is not yet clear when the wall can be removed. However, NMBS/SNCB expects that the work in Ghent-Sint-Pieters – the reason why the diesel trains have to wait in Lokeren in the first place – will be completed before the arrival of the battery-powered trains, which are scheduled to gradually replace the remaining diesel trains starting in 2031.