Contribution of railway traffic to the air pollution level nearby railroad tracks

In direct comparison to other modes of transport, rail transport has a lower release of pollutants, more favorable energy balance and lower land consump-tion.

Nevertheless, more than 180 years of operation and more than 33,000 km of federal railways (DB 2020) also has an impact on the environment.

The objectives of the project are:

•Record and evaluate gaseous and PM emissions and derivate indicator substances (tracers) from different sources or areas of rail transport.

•Calculate emission factors taking into account parameters such as type of train (passengers or freight), locomotion (electric or diesel) and infrastructure.

•Model the especial and temporal spread of pollutants for the entire nationwide rail network.

•Create a human-toxicological and environmental hazard classification and risk assessment and recommendations for handling the airborne pollutants from rail traffic.