SIST EN 16272-3-2:2023+A1:2026

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-julij-2026
Nadomešča:
SIST EN 16272-3-2:2023
Železniške naprave - Infrastruktura - Protihrupne ovire in pripadajoče naprave, ki
vplivajo na širjenje zvoka v zraku - Preskusna metoda za ugotavljanje akustičnih
lastnosti - 3-2. del: Normalizirani spekter železniškega hrupa in enomestne
številske stopnje usmerjenega zvočnega polja (vključno z dopolnilom A1)
Railway applications - Infrastructure - Noise barriers and related devices acting on
airborne sound propagation - Test method for determining the acoustic performance -
Part 3-2: Normalized railway noise spectrum and single number ratings for direct sound
field applications
Bahnanwendungen - Oberbau - Lärmschutzwände und verwandte Vorrichtungen zur
Beeinflussung der Luftschallausbreitung - Prüfverfahren zur Bestimmung der
akustischen Eigenschaften - Teil 3‑2: Standardisiertes Schienenverkehrslärmspektrum
und Einzahl-Angaben für gerichtete Schallfelder
Applications ferroviaires - Infrastructure - Dispositifs de réduction du bruit - Méthode
d'essai pour la détermination de la performance acoustique - Partie 3-2 : Spectre de bruit
ferroviaire normalisé et indices uniques d'évaluation pour des applications en champ
sonore direct
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 16272-3-2:2023+A1:2026
ICS:
17.140.30 Emisija hrupa transportnih Noise emitted by means of
sredstev transport
93.100 Gradnja železnic Construction of railways
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN 16272-3-2:2023+A1
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
May 2026
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 93.100 Supersedes EN 16272-3-2:2023
English Version
Railway applications - Infrastructure - Noise barriers and
related devices acting on airborne sound propagation -
Test method for determining the acoustic performance -
Part 3-2: Normalized railway noise spectrum and single
number ratings for direct sound field applications
Applications ferroviaires - Infrastructure - Dispositifs Bahnanwendungen - Oberbau - Lärmschutzwände und
de réduction du bruit - Méthode d'essai pour la verwandte Vorrichtungen zur Beeinflussung der
détermination de la performance acoustique - Partie 3- Luftschallausbreitung - Prüfverfahren zur Bestimmung
2 : Spectre de bruit ferroviaire normalisé et indices der akustischen Eigenschaften - Teil 3-2:
uniques d'évaluation pour des applications en champ Standardisiertes Schienenverkehrslärmspektrum und
sonore direct Einzahl-Angaben für gerichtete Schallfelder
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 4 September 2023 and includes Amendment 1 approved by CEN on 20 April
2026.
CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATIO N

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUN G

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2026 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 16272-3-2:2023+A1:2026 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms . 6
3.1 Terms and definitions . 6
3.2 Symbols and abbreviated terms . 7
4 Normalized railway noise spectrum for direct sound field applications . 8
5 Single-number rating of sound reflection index DL . 8
RI
6 Single-number rating of sound insulation index DL . 9
SI
6.1 General. 9
6.2 Acoustic elements . 9
6.3 Posts . 10
6.4 Global . 10
7 Single-number ratings of diffraction index difference DL . 11
ΔDI
7.1 General. 11
7.2 Single-number rating of diffraction index difference DL . 11
ΔDI,refl
7.3 Single-number rating of diffraction index difference DL . 12
ΔDI,abs
7.4 Single-number rating of diffraction index difference DL . 12
ΔDI,situ
8 Uncertainty of single-number ratings . 12
9 Expression of results . 12
Annex A (informative) Guidance note on use of the single-number rating of sound reflection
index DL . 14
RI
Annex B (informative) Guidance note on use of the single-number rating of sound insulation
index DL . 15
SI
Annex C (informative) Guidance note on use of the single-number rating of diffraction index
difference DL . 16
ΔDI
Annex D (informative) Measurement uncertainty of the single-number ratings . 17
D.1 General. 17
D.2 Measurement uncertainty based upon reproducibility data for DL . 17
RI
D.3 Measurement uncertainty based upon reproducibility data for DL . 17
SI
D.4 Measurement uncertainty based upon reproducibility data for DL . 18
ΔDI
Bibliography . 20
European foreword
This document (EN 16272-3-2:2023+A1:2026) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 256
“Railway application”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by November 2026, and conflicting national standards shall
be withdrawn at the latest by November 2026.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document includes Amendment 1 approved by CEN on 20 April 2026.
The start and finish of text introduced or altered by amendment is indicated in the text by tags !".
This document supersedes !EN 16272-3-2:2023".
The main changes compared to the previous edition are listed below:
— The ‘Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviations’ clause has been updated;
— An annex with the values of the standard deviation of reproducibility and repeatability of single-
number ratings has been added; this makes possible the declaration of the measurement uncertainty
and the related confidence level, which is now mandatory (Annex C);
— The Bibliography chapter has been added.
!—  Formula (4) for DL has been changed.
SI,G
—  All single-number ratings are reported after having been rounded to the first decimal digit."
EN 16272-3-2 is part of a series and is intended to be read in conjunction with the other parts. All parts
are listed in the following:
— EN 16272-1, Railway applications – Infrastructure — Noise barriers and related devices acting on
airborne sound propagation — Test method for determining the acoustic performance — Part 1:
Intrinsic characteristics — Sound absorption under diffuse sound field conditions
— EN 16272-2, Railway applications – Infrastructure — Noise barriers and related devices acting on
airborne sound propagation — Test method for determining the acoustic performance — Part 2:
Intrinsic characteristics — Airborne sound insulation under diffuse sound field conditions
— EN 16272-3-1, Railway applications – Infrastructure — Noise barriers and related devices acting on
airborne sound propagation — Test method for determining the acoustic performance — Part 3-1:
Normalized railway noise spectrum and single number ratings for diffuse sound field applications
— EN 16272-3-2, Railway applications – Infrastructure — Noise barriers and related devices acting on
airborne sound propagation — Test method for determining the acoustic performance — Part 3-2:
Normalized railway noise spectrum and single number ratings for direct sound field applications (the
present document)
— EN 16272-4, Railway applications – Track — Noise barriers and related devices acting on airborne
sound propagation — Test method for determining the acoustic performance — Part 4: Intrinsic
characteristics — In situ values of sound diffraction under direct sound field conditions
— EN 16272-5, Railway applications – Infrastructure — Noise barriers and related devices acting on
airborne sound propagation — Part 5: Intrinsic characteristics —Sound absorption under direct sound
field conditions
— EN 16272-6, Railway applications – Infrastructure — Noise barriers and related devices acting on
airborne sound propagation — Test method for determining the acoustic performance — Part 6:
Intrinsic characteristics — Airborne sound insulation under direct sound field conditions
— CEN/TS 16272-7, Railway applications – Track — Noise barriers and related devices acting on
airborne sound propagation — Test method for determining the acoustic performance — Part 7:
Extrinsic characteristics — In situ values of insertion loss
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body.
A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North
Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United
Kingdom.
Introduction
1 2
This document is to be read in conjunction with EN 16272-5 and EN 16272-6 and is applied only to
situations as described in those documents (direct sound field conditions).
As the two main intrinsic acoustic characteristics of noise barriers and related devices acting on airborne
sound propagation in a direct sound field, the sound reflection index and the sound insulation index, are
frequency dependent, there is a need to define a reference railway noise spectrum for test purposes.
Also, the diffraction index difference, the main intrinsic acoustic characteristic of added devices, i.e.
products to be added on the top of noise barriers and intended to contribute to sound attenuation acting
primarily on the diffracted sound field, is frequency dependent and there is an analogous need to define
a reference railway noise spectrum for test purposes.
This document defines the basic properties of railway noise measured at the rail track side in terms of a
characteristic normalized railway noise spectrum, which is needed to evaluate single-number ratings of
noise barriers and related devices acting on airborne sound propagation, except those used in
reverberant conditions, e.g. inside tunnels or deep trenches.

Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: FprEN 16272-5:2023.
Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: FprEN 16272-6:2023.
1 Scope
This document specifies a normalized railway noise spectrum for the evaluation and assessment of the
acoustic performance of devices designed to reduce airborne railway noise near railways.
All noise reducing devices different from noise barriers and related devices acting on airborne sound
propagation, e.g. devices for attenuation of ground borne vibration and on board devices are outside of
the scope of this document.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 16272-4:2016, Railway applications - Track - Noise barriers and related devices acting on airborne
sound propagation - Test method for determining the acoustic performance - Part 4: Intrinsic characteristics
- In situ values of sound diffraction under direct sound field
EN 16272-5 , Railway applications - Infrastructure - Noise barriers and related devices acting on airborne
sound propagation - Test method for determining the acoustic performance - Part 5: Intrinsic characteristics
- Sound absorption under direct sound field conditions
EN 16272-6 , Railway applications - Infrastructure - Noise barriers and related devices acting on airborne
sound propagation - Test method for determining the acoustic performance - Part 6: Intrinsic characteristics
- In situ values of airborne sound insulation under direct sound field conditions
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
NOTE For the purpose of this document, the following definitions take precedence over other definitions from
the above websites.
3.1.1
normalized railway noise spectrum
spectrum that is used for the calculation of the acoustic performance of noise barriers and related devices
acting on airborne sound propagation near railways, in terms of !single-number ratings of sound
absorption, airborne sound insulation and diffraction index difference"
Note 1 to entry: The spectrum is expressed in terms of relative A-weighted sound pressure levels in decibels, for
one-third octave bands, Li, in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 5 kHz.
3.1.2
one-third octave bands level
L
i
relative A-weighted sound pressure level in decibels, of a normalized railway noise spectrum for one-
third octave band with centre frequency f
i
3.2 Symbols and abbreviated terms
For the purposes of this document, the following symbols apply.
Table 1 — Symbols and abbreviations
Symbol or
Designation Unit
abbreviation
DL Single-number rating of sound reflection index in a direct sound field dB
RI
expressed as a difference of A weighted sound pressure levels
DL Single-number rating of sound insulation index in a direct sound field dB
SI
expressed as a difference of A-weighted sound pressure levels
DL Single-number rating of diffraction index difference of an added device dB
ΔDI,refl
mounted on a reflective reference wall in a direct sound field expressed as
a difference of A-weighted sound pressure levels
DL Single-number rating of diffraction index difference of an added device dB
ΔDI,abs
mounted on an absorptive reference wall in a direct sound field expressed
as a difference of A-weighted sound pressure levels
DL Single-number rating of diffraction index difference of an added device dB
ΔDI,situ
mounted on an in situ test construction in a direct sound field expressed as
a difference of A-weighted sound pressure levels
f Nominal centre frequency of the i-th one-third octave band Hz
i
i Index of the i-th one-third octave frequency band, between 100 Hz and -
5 kHz
L Relative A-weighted sound pressure level, in decibels, of the normalized dB
i
traffic noise spectrum in the i-th one-third octave band
L !Total length of an acoustic element before installation" m
E
m number of the lowest reliable one-third octave frequency band according
-
1 2
to EN 16272-5 (for RI) or EN 16272-6 (for SI)
RI Sound reflection index in the i-th one-third octave band -
i
SI Sound insulation index in the i-th one-third octave band dB
i
Standard deviation of reproducibility of the single-number rating for -
s
R,DL
SI,E
“elements”
Standard deviation of reproducibility of the single-number rating for -
s
R,DL
SI,P
“posts”
Standard deviation of reproducibility of the single-number rating for -

s
R,DL
SI,G
“global”
w Weight for the single-number rating for acoustic elements -
E
w Weight for the single-number rating across posts -
P
ΔDI Sound diffraction index difference of an added device mounted on a dB
refl
reflective reference wall
ΔDIabs Sound diffraction index differenc
...