Residents press Metro Tunnel team over rail noise near South Kensington

Kensington residents have stepped up their campaign over noise from the new Metro Tunnel entrance near South Kensington Station, with a recent community meeting laying bare ongoing frustration about rail squeal, delays in responses and limited access to monitoring data.

The meeting, held on March 18 at JJ Holland Park on the corner of Kensington Rd and Childers St, brought residents together with representatives from the Metro Tunnel Project Office and Rail Network Alliance to discuss noise linked to the new trains and track arrangement near the tunnel approach.

According to the official meeting summary, residents said they had grown increasingly frustrated by the time it was taking to address their complaints, including what they described as a lack of response to requests for noise monitoring data. They also reported that the noise appeared worse from eastbound trains heading into the tunnel than westbound services, and said they did not believe the installation of an eastbound lubricator last year had improved the issue.

Residents further observed noise from braking trains descending into the tunnel and raised concerns about the future impact of Night Network services on the line.

Project representatives told the meeting they were taking the concerns seriously and said the team had been making regular site visits to observe train movements, timings and environmental conditions. But while residents believed the eastbound line was the main problem, the project team said its own observations had identified more squeal on the westbound track.

As part of the short-term response, the project said Metro Trains had agreed to increase oil to the westbound lubricator within a fortnight, while longer-term maintenance conversations were continuing.

The bigger promise from the authority is that the current track arrangement is only temporary.

At the meeting, the project advised that the tracks entering the tunnel were not yet in their final configuration and that a temporary diamond track junction would be removed in July and replaced with a straighter layout. According to the project office, that permanent arrangement is expected to provide long-term noise relief and also remove the “clunking” noise caused by wheels passing over gaps in the current junction.

Residents, however, pressed the project team on what would happen if the new track did not resolve the problem.

They asked about compliance monitoring, independent auditing, acoustic barriers, access to data, compensation for affected families and what recourse would be available if the final track formation still failed to meet noise requirements.

In response, the project office said the Metro Tunnel must meet the requirements of its Environmental Management Framework and the Passenger Rail Infrastructure Noise Policy once the permanent track is in place. If compliance monitoring showed non-compliance, the project said it would be required to investigate mitigation measures such as noise walls, façade treatments or double glazing.

The authority also said its modelling indicated the final track alignment would sit under the relevant policy thresholds, and that interim observations had not recorded any maximum noise levels above 85 decibels. Monitoring is being undertaken by AECOM, part of the Rail Network Alliance consortium.

Following the meeting, the project team wrote to attendees thanking them for making the time to meet and said it intended to provide monthly update emails, construction updates as close-out works continue in Kensington, and a further residents’ meeting after permanent track installation and compliance monitoring are complete. •