Noise control for Europe's rail freight system
Rail is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly means of transport. Rail traffic is therefore rising steadily. The result is increased noise pollution from noisy freight trains. Long-term growth and social acceptance of rail as a mode of transport can only be achieved by drastically reducing noise pollution.
To this end, various European countries granted a noise bonus and jointly built up a database of low-noise wagons (Silent Wagon Database = SWDB) to simplify the granting of the bonus. SWDB is operated and financed by Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland. This website serves as a single-entry point (SEP) for these countries.
The bonus programmes have now expired, except for Switzerland. On the other hand, the requirements have been tightened. In Germany and Switzerland, cars with cast iron soles are largely prohibited. In the other EU countries, this will be the case on the "quieter routes" from 2024.
The infrastructure managers continue to consult SWDB to check whether all freight trains run with noise-reduced wagons. Likewise, the Swiss noise bonus is automatically granted with the help of the SWDB. For this purpose, it is necessary that all wagon owners register their low-noise wagons in the SWDB before commissioning or after a conversion before the first train journey. The necessary information can be found here.
The registration of low-noise wagons is also possible by the rail transport companies, if they provide suitable proof.
Your notification of low-noise wagons to the SWDB ... via the Single-Entry-Point (SEP)
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Read instructions
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Download Excel form…
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…fill in and…
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…send by e-mail
If you manage your cars in the RSRD2, you can release the data for transfer to the SWDB and the transfer runs automatically, every Wednesday. Please pay attention to the timely gathering of mutations.