Soho businesses sue Crossrail for damage to trade

[Foghut]

It's not what you think !!

Soho in London has a higher number of sound studios per square mile than anywhere else in the UK. These studios have always been carefully sited to avoid ground transmitted acoustic noise from railways and roads.

However the Crossrail route plows straight through the centre of an area which until now has been ideally quiet. Grand Central Post Production (no relation to the Open-Access railway operator) has has spent £ 100,000 arguing for concessions from Crossrail. They are concerned not only with the noise generated by the construction project, but also the operating noise of trains which will run a mere 20 to 30 meters below the TV complex. They challenge Crossrail's acoustic consultant, claiming that the 40dB LAmax standards he is using is inappropriate for considering the acoustic integrity of an audio studio.

The intention is to get a Commons Select Comittee to force Crossrail to use FST (Floating Slab Track) in the Soho area. FST is a system where rubber bearings separate the foundations from the concrete slab. It is believed that this should give ground borne noise of between 10 and 18 dB LAmax.

The Crossrail bill is expected to become law by next Summer.

(Source: Audio Media magazine, Nov 2007)