Published Sunday, January 6, 2002, in the Hayward Daily Review

Niles residents seek relief from train horns

By Sean R. Cabibi
Staff Writer

FREMONT -- Blaring train horns are irritating residents who say the
fact that nothing is being done to solve the problem is even worse.

"If some simple improvements were made, then the train operators
would not have to blow their horns," said David Crawford, who lives
near the Nursery Avenue crossing in Niles.

Train operators are required to blow the horn at crossings, but if
certain safety devices are in place, horn blowing can be left to the
discretion of the train operator.

Residents near the Nursery Avenue crossing are asking the city to
alter the crossing to meet "quiet zone" standards, thus stopping
train horns, Crawford said.

The City Council rejected a proposal in December to launch a pilot
program that would have installed an automated horn at the Nursery
Avenue crossing and paved the way for 12 more to be installed at
other crossings in the city. The automated horns would have replaced
the need for louder train horns.

"The major factor in (the City Council's) decision was liability,"
Mayor Gus Morrison said. Union Pacific, which owns the tracks, would
be in charge of upkeep on the horns, he said, but the city would be
responsible for accidents.

The city has no improvement plans at any crossings that could make
them eligible as "quiet zones," Morrison said.

"There is no approved set system that works, and we don't see
(automated horns) improving safety," he said.

Barriers and curb improvements that prevent people from crossing
after arms go down, automated horn systems and other signaling
devices don't guarantee the Public Utilities Commission will approve
a "quiet zone" designation, according to Union Pacific officials.

"If new improvements can be shown to have the potential to reduce
accidents as much as train horns, I think they should be tried
and 'quiet zone' designations should be issued," said Michael Nava,
who lives near the crossing on Blacow Road. "Are officials saying
that train horns are the only and best solution?"

Train horns are not necessarily the best solution, but no other
solutions have proven better, Morrison said.

And the PUC says fatalities increase 62 percent when train horns are
silenced.

The automated horns were been used in numerous Midwestern cities as
part of pilot programs between 1995 to 1999. Successful pilot
programs in other cities are proof the horns work, Nava said.

"They're being used and they seem to be working well in other cities.
It's a shame we don't do the same here," he said.

The problem is there are no set standards at the federal level that
define what is safe enough to stop horn blowing, said Mike Furtney,
spokesman for Union Pacific.

"The Federal Railroad Administration has not approved set standards,"
he said. "The only real definite standard that is considered safe is
eliminating the crossing altogether."

In the end, even with horns or barricades, it's still left to the
discretion of the train operator without the "quiet zone" designation.