Can Someone Turn Down the Train?

The daily newspapers up and down the Peninsula are reporting on how loud the Caltrain horns have gotten.  You don't have to be too close to the tracks to know the horns are much louder than before, but if you are close to the train you know that it's loud enough to be painful.  And I say that as a veteran of concerts by the Stones, the Doobie Brothers and the loudest band I ever heard--the Kinks.  Here's part of the Daily Journal article explaining horn placement on trains

Federal regulations require the horns to produce distinct, separate and sequential blasts and a recent safety inspection revealed the horns were not making the unique “toot” and “tweet.”

Caltrain received numerous calls to its customer service center with complaints about the horns, said spokeswoman Christine Dunn.  “I even received a personal call from a mother who said her son was awakened by the horn in the night,” Dunn said.

Caltrain moved the horns to the underside of locomotives and cab cars in response to previous complaints from the community.  But since the powerful air horns weren’t making the distinctive “toots” and “tweets” the horns have returned to their original location on top of the trains.

Burlingame resident Lynn Hawthorne said her entire neighborhood has noticed the louder horns.

“It’s just terrible. The horns got much louder. I live two blocks from the track but it feels like I’m living on the tracks when the train passes,” Hawthorne said. “I’ve got double-pane windows but I might as well not have windows at all.”

Moving the horns to the top of the locomotives and cab cars has increased the volume and the range of the sound. 

“We are working diligently to reduce the problem,” Dunn said. “There is no knob to turn the volume down on these air horns.”

I guess we will all need earplugs while they work out some compromise between the Federal Railroad Administration rules and a liveable sound level.

Comments

[Michelle]

Yes, this is a horrible situation and all my neighbors are noticing it. We live a few blocks from the tracks. The horn is waking us at all hours, preventing normal conversation outside, scaring children, making homes even more difficult to sell . . .Caltrain claims they are looking into options but can't do anything in the interim because of federal regulations.

[Holy Roller]

Instead of reducing the sound level of the horn. Lets endorse Darwin's Principal. Turn the horn off completely.
I know it this is a harsh thought.
But the theory should be given some thought.

[Pavlov's dog]

Holy Roller, that's exactly the way Caltrains wants you to think.

When SFO wanted to build a third runway in the bay five years ago, the amount of departure delays increased exponentially.

Now that Caltrains wants the peninsula to give in to high speed rail, the noise caused by the trains has increased exponentially.

You don't like the noise? Agree to elevated railways and the noise goes away. That's the carrot and the stick.

[Joe]

Good news!! The CalTrain horns may still sound like someone is torturing some poor animal, but the horns will quieter. Here's part of today's announcement:

Volume of Caltrain Horns To Be Lowered

Caltrain has begun installing regulator valves that will allow a dramatic reduction in the level of noise produced by its horns. The valves are adjustable and will allow the volume of the horns to be fine-tuned. The volume will be returned to the previous level of 98 decibels, which is at the low end of the range set by federal law.

Although crews will work on the project through the weekend it is expected to take several weeks to install the valves on all of Caltrain's 29 locomotives and 34 cab cars.

[jim]

This isn't getting any better. It is just horrible. How long can it take to turn down the noise!

[joe]

James W. Kelly from San Bruno writes in a letter to the Daily Journal today:

"In the uproar over blaring horns along the Peninsula, I'm curious why there's no mention of a technology that could offer relief. It's called the "wayside horn." This technology adds a sensor-activated horn at each grade crossing as a back-up for the lights, bells and barriers."

He goes on to note that the decibel level is lower, studies show the wayside horns enhance safety and that the old horns would still be on the trains for other uses.

Good question.

[commuter]

Despite recent efforts to soften Caltrain horn noise, Burlingame and San Mateo residents say little has changed and the racket is still disrupting their lives.

At the request of the San Mateo County Times, two residents, one from Burlingame and one from San Mateo, provided a newsroom phone number to their neighbors to call in case they were still irate over the horn noise and wanted to vent. The ensuing response was overwhelming: dozens of calls from furious neighbors through a two-day period.

[commuter]

Not much news last night from Mark Simon. They're working really hard with not enough skilled people on a few old horns. And some engineers like to blow their horns more than others. We'll get back to you.

[Commuter]

Q: With all the noise of the train horns why doesn't the city work to establish a quiet zone for the four mile stretch of tracks in Burlingame?
A: Staff has consulted several agencies to learn about the quiet zones. No City in the Peninsula Corridor currently has established a quiet zone. Based on our discussions with several agencies and Caltrain, the local agency (the City) would have to pay for engineering studies, design and construction of improvements needed to establish the quiet zone. Recent feasibility study in Berkeley showed that it would cost $4.3 million to $8.9 million for making improvements at six crossings. The minimum length of the quiet zone has to be at least half a mile. In addition, the City could be assuming liability for any train accident that may occur within the quiet zone.

[Natasha]

These loud horns are just a ploy to get the majority of locals to go for high speed rail. I'm at the point where I give up, build whatever crap you want. Between these horns and the new ambulance sirens I'm considering moving to Montana where the loudest thing is moose and squirrel.