Thorndale the loudest train station? Maybe a dozen times a day
The Sun-Times had an interesting report last Tuesday about decibel levels at every CTA train station. Most interesting to me is their claiming the Thorndale station on the Red Line is the loudest at 109.2 decibels.
But that was when an Evanston Express train was roaring north. Which only happens at most 16 times a day, according to the CTA schedule. So I'm going with the 63rd Street station on the Red as the noisiest at 105.4 decibels. Now I believe that's pretty much sustained all day every day when you add in the cars and trucks zooming by on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
Over 100 decibels is similar to a chain saw. Some Sun-Times facts that affect loudness:
"Speed is a big factor affecting the level of sound, according to Steve Thunder, an engineer with Acoustic Associates in Palatine. Off-peak trains were sometimes louder than rush-hour trains because motormen came into stations quickly.
"In downtown subway stations, noise is reduced by acoustic wall panels. Subway stations without soundproofing tend to be louder than L platforms, and trains traveling on elevated steel track tend to be louder than trains rolling on the ground."
Sun-Times resources:
- The rest of the stations (Dempster on the Purple is lowest at 80 decibels -- like an alarm clock).
- Torture your ears with train noises.
Everyone knows that the 'L' is loud. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/06/dayintech_0602
Posted by: ebob | June 02, 2008 at 09:29 AM
Why no measurements of the blaring announcements INSIDE the train? I'm sure they are sometimes over 100 decibels, not to mention the ear-shattering door closing warning chime.
Posted by: Martha | June 02, 2008 at 10:15 AM
ahhh one of the reasons why I hate seeing the purple line in the morning.
Posted by: whodat jones | June 02, 2008 at 12:11 PM
I don't use them in warm weather, but I have a fairly inexpensive pair of noise-cancelling headphones that I use almost exclusively on the CTA. Sometimes I'm not even listening to anything; I just let the headphones do their work without music just to enjoy a little relative quiet.
Posted by: Bob S. | June 02, 2008 at 01:55 PM
As a former Brown-Line rider, I never found the Brown Line to be anywhere approaching loud, inside or out. Except on the short stretch of main line between Clark Jct. and Armitage, where the tracks have been beat to shit.
But the 3200 cars are much quieter than the 2600 cars, inside and out, and the Brown Line track seems to be better too. The only parts where I feel it's loud inside are the stretches of subway where the trains really get up to speed (between North/Clybourn and Clark/Division on Red, and the whole O'Hare branch subway on the Blue Line).
Posted by: Josh | June 02, 2008 at 03:33 PM
Anybody else giggle a little when they read the quote from Steve THUNDER, the acoustic engineer? ;P
No?
Just me, then. Okay.
Posted by: Erin | June 02, 2008 at 04:04 PM
I have to question how this testing was performed. Some of these numbers just seem off.
Rockwell at #15? How is Kedzie (brown line) one of the quietest stations in the system, but Rockwell is the fifteenth loudest? I take the train from Rockwell every day and it's the quietest station I've ever lived near.
Posted by: Neal | June 02, 2008 at 05:11 PM
It seems to me that wherever the 2600-series trains run (Red, Blue, and Pink lines) are bound to be the loudest stations. I've noticed it especially when CTA runs the Red Line on the elevated tracks on weekends lately - the Red Line trains are ear-splittingly loud when they go through the Loop.
Posted by: Brendan | June 02, 2008 at 07:30 PM
You know what else is really loud? Those Metra engines when you have to walk past them in the station. Everyone plugs their ears. Funny how that doesn't get studied--always picking on the CTA.
Posted by: JMan | June 02, 2008 at 08:44 PM
The worst spot on the subway system has to be the intersection of Lake and Wells. The screeching noise generated by the rails making a turn there is absolutely horrific.
Posted by: Michael J. Harris | June 03, 2008 at 06:36 AM
I agree with JMan -- those Metra engines, which are always running, are ridiculously loud as well. It's almost better to jump in the car before it and cross through the inside to the car you want, rather than walk next to them.
Posted by: Metra Rider | June 03, 2008 at 08:35 AM
I'd be curious as to the noise level at the Pulaski bus stops under the Irving Park (Blue) station. With the concrete from the Kennedy overpass and open track above the street, it's like an echo chamber, and when a train passes overhead it's absolutely deafening.
Posted by: Vinny | June 03, 2008 at 09:10 AM
I actually used to like it when the subway cars had windows you could open. The noise was deafening, other-worldly and the perfect pitch to freak out a kid... which is what happened to me.
Posted by: Dude | June 03, 2008 at 10:20 AM
yes, neal! i work at the midwives/acupuncture place that is *right* next to the rockwell stop. i can walk right out the door and -touch- trains if i want to. it's hardly anywhere NEAR the 15th noisiest stop.
BUT .... belmont doesn't even get on the list? ?? ever stand below that baby when a train .. or two ... or three (when all the tracks were working) go by? crazytown.
how did they come up with this list?!
Posted by: smussyolay | June 03, 2008 at 05:45 PM
It is unconscionable for the CTA to be inflicting these reported noise levels on its workers and the public. I mean, come on, it's 2008 for crying out loud (pun!), and we know that:
(1) exposure to loud noises, even for short periods such as 1-15 minutes, causes subsequent hearing loss (see http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/ruler.asp);
(2) good design and soundproofing can reduce that noise; and
(3) wearing earplugs is way less cool than not having the roaring sound there in the first place.
This is one instance where putting one's head in the sand might be more useful in its literal sense than in its figurative one!
Posted by: whatsthatyousay? | August 03, 2008 at 04:14 PM
The screeching from the CTA trains at the Hubbard and Franklin S curve is unbelievable! it is 85 db at 200 feet away, and from on the ground or in the train it is louder than a jet taking off. How about the picture of Mayor Daley in China during the Olympics riding on a Beijing subway. He looked stunned! Bet it was because he could hear himself thinking "Duh, wish we had dese in Chicago"
Posted by: pg | August 24, 2008 at 05:11 PM