Monitoring and analysis of vibration transmission for various track typologies. A case study

•Ballasted track alleviates low frequency vibrations slightly better than slab track.•Performance is similar for both typologies in the rest of the frequency bandwidth.•Pad stiffness, sleeper support and track maintenance greatly influence vibration.

Vibrations propagated from railways can disturb local residents. Within this context, this paper presents a monitoring exercise involving diverse track typologies, ranging from tram slab tracks to high-speed ballasted tracks. The results show a slightly better performance of ballasted tracks when dealing with low frequency vibrations, and an overall similar alleviation pattern for the whole bandwidth. Other issues such as vehicle influence and vibration of sleepers are discussed.