DB Cargo has already converted 58,000 of wagons with LL-type quiet composite brake block whisper brakes, representing 90% of the current fleet.
The so-called ‘whisper brakes wagons’ progamme will be completed by the end of 2020, when a fleet of 63,000 wagons will be equipped with silent brakes.
DB Cargo is investing a total of EUR 200 million from its own budget for the conversion. The whisper brakes prevent the wheels from roughening and thus reduce the rolling noise. The programme aims at noise reduction of a train by 10 decibels, halving the noise perceived by the human ear.
“More freight transport – less noise, that’s not a contradiction. Whisper brakes ensure more peace and quiet along the railway lines. 58,000 cars are already quiet today. That’s 90 percent of the fleet. Now we are going into the final phase so that the residents can soon sleep better,” said Sigrid Nikutta, DB Management Board as Board Member for Freight Transport.
DB Cargo started the systematic upgrading of its existing freight wagons in January 2014, just half a year after the LL blocks were approved. All of DB Cargo’s wagons in Germany will be quiet by the end of 2020.
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