Assessment of noise environment in a major railway station in India.

To assess the degree of noise pollution in relation to the health and safety of the employees and commuters, a study on the levels of noise originating from various locomotives and also from different other sources was undertaken at Kalupur railway station of Gujarat State in India. The sound pressure levels (SPL) were measured on platforms. Noise dose count was monitored on a ticket collector on duty for 8 h. The results reflected that the SPLs in the platforms well exceeded the day time noise exposure limit. Further, the SPLs produced by loudspeakers were high and those by train whistles were intensely high pitched. The noise dose count of the ticket collector was also in excess of ACGIH standard. All these suggest that the SPLs in the platforms can endanger the healthful living of the users. Suitable control measures have been suggested.