Vibrational and Squealing Rail Noise Is a Human Health Issue - Do We Need Regulations?

Okay so, as a free-market thinker and retired entrepreneur I am the last person in the world who would suggest we need more regulations on industry or business. In fact, I believe that's what is causing the problem in the United States with the unemployment rates, and why our economy is faltering. Nevertheless, I do realize there are some real concerns with noise pollution, specifically one noise which concerns me is the vibrational energy and squealing of railcars in the United States. Let me explain.

First, did you know that a train with 100 cars on it fully loaded actually registers one point on the Richter scale? I bet you didn't know that, or maybe you did, maybe you are a seismologist. But why does this occur, the railway system in the United States is pretty much the same as it was 100 years ago, not much has changed, it seems that by now we would've taken care of the noise issue, especially after cities have been built up around railroad tracks as our population has increased.

Now then, I am not one to support nationalized healthcare or socialism, however if we are headed down that path, and my tax dollars are paying for other people's healthcare, then I am concerned with the noise pollution causing serious human health issues. If people don't get a good night's sleep, they are more apt to have seizures, get cancer, and their immune systems do not run at optimum, and therefore all sorts of other things can happen. If people don't get a good night's sleep, they are more easily depressed, and their productivity at work slows down, along with their memories.

Perhaps we don't need more regulation, but we do need a solution to this problem. There are several that I'd like researchers in the United States to consider. The Department of Transportation does fund research very similar to the Department of Energy's research budget program. We can fix this problem, perhaps by changing out the rails to carbon nanotube construction, or those big steel wheels. Perhaps we can create some sort of buffering system that would collect the noise energy and vibrations, and use it to power up railroad crossings, lighting, or put that energy back onto the grid.

You see, friction noise and vibrational energy is wasted energy, it is a byproduct of that train moving down the track. It took energy to get that train going, and now that energy is being wasted by creating sound and vibration. We ought to be taking that vibrational energy collecting it, and reusing it, there is no need for the noise. From a philosophical standpoint, also from a basic physics standpoint, so my thinking here is correct. Indeed I asked her to please consider all this and think on it.