Thrush hour: study suggests birdsong can ease commuter stress

At the end of summer even adults suffer that “back to school” feeling as they resume stressful commutes on packed trains. But instead of listening to a podcast or music, opting for a nature soundtrack of birdsong or waterfalls could be the key to a “zen” commute, according to a study.
The research, undertaken by South Western Railway (SWR) on one of its trains and analysed by Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford, measured the impact of listening to nature soundscapes on passengers’ stress levels and relaxation.
The test – possibly the first on commuters in real-world conditions – featured passengers listening to a selection of nature sounds, including birdsong, flowing rivers and storms, as well as their regular preferred audio source, such as music or a podcast. These scenarios were also tested against no audio input on the specially commissioned service on a 47-minute loop journey from London Waterloo.
The group of 46 passengers filled in mood assessment questionnaires prior to departure, then at 15-minute intervals. The experiment found that those who listened to nature soundscapes were 35% less stressed and 32% less nervous. By comparison, those listening to music or podcasts only registered an 11% reduction in stress.
“Much of the research that has been done on this subject area has taken place in laboratories and isn’t very ecologically valid, whereas this study may have been one of the only ones to have been conducted on a train with real commuters,” said Prof Spence, who said operational constraints dictated the sample size, though it was consistent with previous laboratory-based studies of the impact of noise on stress and wellbeing.
“The results clearly demonstrate that listening to nature-inspired soundscape exerted a significant calming effect on passengers,” he said. “It would be interesting to investigate whether the results could also be applicable to other forms of transport, such as long-distance flights or lengthy drives.”
Dan Piner, SWR’s senior strategy and innovation manager, said the company knew many people used their journey to decompress from the working day so it wanted to “better understand how passengers can truly switch off and maximise their time on board”.
Since the pandemic, some commuters have found ways to make their journeys to work more productive and enjoyable, trying their hand at everything from sewing curtains to learning Italian and listening to audiobooks.
“The data is clear: listening to nature soundscapes on the train can reduce stress,” said Piner.
Inspired by the research, the train company has partnered with the workplace wellbeing platform Unmind to develop Train Tracks, a “curated selection of nature sounds to help our customers get the most out of every journey with us”.
The series, which is available on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music, includes episodes on storms, birdsong and waterfalls. Each comes in short, medium and long versions, which passengers can select according to the length of their journey.
While running trains on time would probably reduce passenger stress levels too, a separate SWR poll of more than 2,000 train passengers found that the most common gripes were other passengers speaking loudly on the phone (64%), putting their feet on the seats (58%), and listening to music without earphones (56%).