Noise Charges in Railway Infrastructure: A Pricing Schedule Based on the Marginal Cost Principle

In order to mitigate the negative effects of transportation and to achieve a competitive transport sector, infrastructure charges in the European Union should be based on short-run marginal costs. This paper shows that railway-noise charges can be estimated using already obtained knowledge of monetary and acoustical noise evaluation. Most European countries have standardized calculation methods for total noise level, which can be used to estimate the marginal acoustical effect. Based on a Swedish case study (with a relatively high number of exposed individuals), railway-noise charges are estimated at 0.026, 0.099 and 0.89 e/km for commuter, high-speed and freight trains, respectively. 1