Melbourne Airport Rail is a transformational public transport project connecting Melbourne to Victoria’s regional and metropolitan network with trains to run from Melbourne Airport through Sunshine Station and the Metro Tunnel

Rail Projects Victoria is overseeing the delivery of Melbourne Airport Rail and has a team of design, engineering and construction experts working on the development and delivery of the project.

A range of investigations and assessments are undertaken as part of project planning to develop ways of managing and mitigating potential impacts. Every effort will be made to reduce impacts as much as possible.

This fact sheet outlines what we will do to manage the potential impacts of noise and vibration during construction and when Melbourne Airport Rail is up and running.

Noise and vibration

Noise and vibration may impact the community during:

• Construction – Temporary noise and/or vibration during construction of the project
• Operations – Noise and/or vibration from Melbourne Airport Rail trains once the project is complete

Assessing noise and vibration

We know construction can be noisy at times and we will use a range of measures to reduce the impact of our work when we are close to communities.

Noise and vibration assessments have been carried out in the local area to understand the potential impacts of constructing and operating Melbourne Airport Rail.

The assessments involved identifying areas which may experience increased noise or vibration due to our work, assessing the significance of potential impacts and determining how to manage them.

Managing noise and vibration impacts

We will work with the appointed construction contractors to monitor and manage noise and vibration.

A range of measures will be used to manage the impact of our work including:

• providing advanced notification of upcoming noisy work
• working within standard construction hours (7am to 6pm weekdays and 7am to 1pm Saturdays), wherever feasible
• using lowest-noise work practices and equipment to meet the requirements of the job
• minimising the extent of major noise-generating work happening at the same time at the same location
• installing hoardings and temporary noise barriers, where required
• turning off machinery and equipment when not in use.

Construction work will be carried out in line with all relevant statutory approvals, including the project’s Environmental Management Framework, as well as Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria guidelines.

Noise during construction

If you live near where we will be working, then you may hear construction noise at times. This could be when we are working in the rail corridor, building the new rail line, or delivering materials to the construction site.

How sound is perceived is personal and can depend on the environment. Because of this, noise may affect some people more than others. For example, a neighbour mowing the lawn in the middle of the night may seem louder than if they were mowing during the day.

How we measure noise

We measure noise in decibels. A change of one to two decibels is not usually noticeable while a change of 5 decibels is likely to be clearly noticeable and an increase of 10 decibels is subjectively twice as loud. For example, if a lawnmower is about 90 decibels and a motorcycle is about 100 decibels, then a motorcycle will sound almost twice as loud as a lawnmower.

Noise from construction traffic

Our work will temporarily require trucks and other construction vehicles to access sites via local roads and travel within the rail corridor behind residential and commercial buildings. We will work with the appointed construction contractors to designate traffic routes including entry and exit points that minimise impacts and where possible, we will limit construction vehicles to standard construction hours.

Noise near construction sites

Work at these sites will be carried out in stages and some activities will be louder than others. For example, earthworks tend to be louder than finishing work like rail signalling or installing lights. A range of measures will be used to minimise noise and all site activities noise will be managed in accordance with relevant statutory approvals, including the Environment Management Framework.

Vibration during construction

People are sensitive to vibration and can feel vibration at very low levels, typically at levels much lower than will cause damage to property. Vibration may be experienced in other ways, such as causing windows to rattle.

Vibration near properties

While ground vibrations may be experienced, construction activities will be planned to avoid damage to property. However, we understand there may be concern about the potential for vibration to cause damage to property.

For peace of mind, property owners near our works will be offered a free property condition survey which will provide a record of your property’s condition before our work starts.

Further information regarding property condition surveys will be shared with the community before Melbourne Airport Rail begins construction.

Noise and vibration when Melbourne Airport Rail is operational

Some members of the community living near Melbourne Airport Rail may notice noise from rail services running to and from Melbourne Airport.

Noise and vibration will be assessed in accordance with the Victorian Government’s Passenger Rail Infrastructure Noise Policy, and required to comply with the Environmental Management Framework and any other relevant statutory approvals.

Noise walls

New, high-quality permanent noise walls are proposed in some areas along the rail corridor.

We will engage with local residents and share further information about the exact location, height, and look and feel of the proposed noise walls as the project designs progress.