Crossrail is Europe's biggest construction project and will deliver a major new east-west railway under London. Construction of Crossrail commenced in 2009 and tunnelling was completed in 2015. Services will operate in central London from 2018. Without mitigation groundborne noise and vibration generated by operational trains has the potential to disturb occupants of existing buildings above the tunnels. As a result, operational groundborne noise and vibration have been an important consideration throughout the planning, design and construction phases of Crossrail. Groundborne noise and vibration can be controlled through the design of low vibration track systems by incorporating resilient elements in the track and ensuring the running surfaces of the rails are smooth. Crossrail has committed to install and maintain low vibration track throughout its tunnels to minimise the impact of the railway on existing buildings. This paper describes the project's commitments, the evaluative criteria adopted for the assessment of groundborne noise and vibration, the steps taken to predict groundborne noise from operational trains, and the design process. The final design for the track is presented. The track, which is currently being installed in the tunnels, includes around 40 km of resilient booted sleeper track and 3 km of floating slab track.
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