Examination of Witnesses (Questions 12140
- 12159)
12140. CHAIRMAN: We saw that from the
footbridge.
12141. LADY BRIGHT: Yes, you can see
that, so would you say that you have special circumstances—your
noise profile is not the same as the noise profile of a house
four down?
(Mr Hessenberg)
Standing in front of your house this morning I was deeply shocked
by how much worse yours is than ours. It really is appalling because
you have got the barrier, you have got Royal Oak Tube Station
where everything is screeching to a halt there and it is particularly
bad there.
12142. You were telling me that things are better
at your end in one respect suddenly.
(Mr Hessenberg) Only because they have
reengined the Paxmans and put in new Deutz engines which are much,
much quieter and there is less pollution. I think the main thing
is the EWS trains, the aggregate trains which bump in the night
and screech, and the batching plant, that is really very severe
with violent vibration.
12143. Are you satisfied that that will be better
now that the headshunt is further west?
(Mr Hessenberg) It is still quite a problem.
12144. CHAIRMAN: Are the EWS trains loose-coupled?
(Mr Hessenberg)
Yes, it sounds like it.
12145. LORD SNAPE: I am sorry, Lord Chairman,
they are not. There are hardly any loose-coupled trains left by
and large on the railway system.
12146. CHAIRMAN: I was surprised—
12147. LORD SNAPE: They are not loose-coupled;
they have continuous air brakes and they are tightly coupled together
these days.
(Mr Hessenberg)
But they do screech and bump.
12148. LORD SNAPE: Indeed, I am not saying
they are particularly quiet but they are not loose-coupled. Of
course the engine could be doing 20 miles an hour, and the guards
van at the back—and I speak from bitter experience—actually
moved, but we do not have any of those any more.
12149. LADY BRIGHT: I think you have
got a sense of the geography there, thank you very much.
Cross-examined by MS
LIEVEN
12150. MS LIEVEN: Mr Hessenberg, can
I just ask you a couple of factual questions, please. First of
all, as far as the Hammersmith & City line is concerned and
the portal, you suggested that it was on the south side of the
track somewhere round here; in fact it is on the north side of
the tracks, these are the Hammersmith & City tracks over here
and the portal is over on the north side, on the Westway side,
is it not?
(Mr Hessenberg) Yes it is, I am sorry.
12151. And secondly as far as these EWS trains
are concerned, I think you said that your house was one of these
ones here (indicating), was that right?
(Mr Hessenberg) That is it, yes.
12152. Under the Crossrail scheme, I do not
know if you understand, the batching plant is going to be moved
and the lines are going to be reconfigured.
(Mr Hessenberg) Further west.
12153. Were you aware of that?
(Mr Hessenberg) Not totally, no.
12154. Were you aware that the batching plant
was going to be rebuilt?
(Mr Hessenberg) Yes.
12155. Were you aware that the tracks were going
to be reconfigured?
(Mr Hessenberg) No.
12156. The fact is that under the Crossrail
scheme the EWS trains, which at the moment come all the way down
here to go into the batching plant, are not going to go any further
than approximately here, ie west of the footbridge, so they will
stop coming past your house in the night. As I understand it from
what you have said about the EWS trains being the biggest problem
for you because of the noise they make at night, that will be
a significant improvement to your position, will it not?
(Mr Hessenberg) It sounds like it.
12157. MS LIEVEN: Good, thank you.
12158. LORD SNAPE: Before you leave us
Mr Hessenberg, could you tell us how many of those freight trains
there are in the course of the night? Are they running continuously
or is it just the odd one?
(Mr Hessenberg)
It is the odd one. It is my daughter who lives in the upper floors
who is much affected by this. We are in the back of the house
and at a lower level, but we do get complaints from the people
who live above.
12159. LORD SNAPE: I am not suggesting
the noise is any less because there is only a few of them, I am
just trying to ascertain in my own mind how often these train
movements take place.
(Mr Hessenberg) I think one of the concerns
is the deep rumbling and the vibration affecting the houses considerably,
and cracks appearing in the walls.
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