HC Deb 25 October 1995 vol 264 cc719-20W
Mr. Gordon Prentice

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons the Noise Insulation (Railways and other Guided Transport Systems) Regulations 1995 do not set standards to be applied to the mitigation of railway noise at source. [39846]

Mr. Watts

The enabling legislation for the Noise Insulation Regulations for new railway lines in section 20 of the Land Compensation Act 1973. This section authorises the Secretary of State to make regulations imposing a duty or conferring a power on the authority responsible for the public works to insulate buildings against noise from the construction or use of public works. This means that regulations made under the Land Compensation Act 1973 cannot include standards for the mitigation of noise at source.

However, the existence of regulations for railways, and the noise trigger levels included in them, will encourage authorities constructing new lines to incorporate noise mitigation at source into the design of the lines.