WHILE apartments near Metro stations are popular among homebuyers and tenants, people who live in a housing estate too close to Metro Line 4 wish they were not so close.

A resident surnamed Tang at the housing estate near Shangtang Metro Station in Longhua District complained that noise caused by passing Metro trains and maintenance cars seriously affected his life, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

According to the report, the building in which Tang lives is only 20 meters from the Shangtang Station of Metro Line 4.

Tang said that his family members are disturbed by the noise from passing Metro trains during the day and are often abruptly awakened by noise from cars used for maintenance at night.

Tang said that some residents had already talked to the property management of the housing estate but had not heard any practical solution.

Another resident, surnamed Huang, who lives in the same building as Tang, said she didn’t expect noise pollution when moving into the government-subsidized apartment.

Huang said that someone had tested the noise level on the seventh floor with a portable sound level meter. The results showed that the noise on that floor reaches nearly 80 decibels, which considerably surpasses the national standard of 45 decibels for daytime. Even with all windows and doors closed, the noise inside an apartment on the same floor was detected to be 62 decibels, the report quoted Huang as saying.

According to a manager with Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR), the operator of Metro Line 4, the establishment of this line was approved by the environmental protection administration in September 2013, which was earlier than the environmental approvals obtained by the real estate developer. The manager, who wasn’t named in the report, said the housing developer ought to take responsibility for the problem.

According to a notice issued Friday, Shenzhen Metro Co. is working with the Longhua District Government to tackle the problem. (Cui Chenxin)