Link: Peninsula residents, businesses going bonkers over louder Caltrain horns - Inside Bay Area
Peninsula residents, businesses going bonkers over louder Caltrain horns
By Mike Rosenberg
San Mateo County Times
Posted: 07/29/2009 05:10:34 PM PDT
Updated: 07/29/2009 08:22:30 PM PDT
Burlingame mother Grace Alicea never imagined one of the most formidable obstacles in completing her summer college courses would prove to be a "crazy, siren-like" horn that blasts through her home dozens of times per day.
Alicea's political science classes at the College of San Mateo involve a heavy homework load, which she tries to complete at night so she can enroll at Notre Dame de Namur University this fall.
So she was alarmed when Caltrain officials moved their locomotives' air horns to the top of their trains last week, which suddenly amplified the volume and range of the warning honks without notice or explanation. Alicea lives by the Oak Grove Avenue crossing, one of 44 intersections by which Caltrain engineers must sound the horn.
"It's like it's in your house," said Alicea. "There's so much homework, my teacher says, 'Do it at nighttime.' "... But you can't even hear yourself when it comes through and your windows are open."
During the past week, Caltrain's customer service center has been flooded with calls from residents and business owners wondering why the horns were suddenly so deafening.
The change occurred after a routine internal investigation revealed the horns were not making the distinct "tweet and toot" train sound required by federal regulators, said spokeswoman Christine Dunn.
The horns have no volume control, and Dunn said the agency is investigating how to muffle the sound while still meeting
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Federal Railroad Administration requirements. For now, residents and businesses along the tracks are stuck searching for earplugs.
"You actually feel it in your eardrums," said Kieran Mannix, owner of Big E Automotive next to the Ninth Avenue crossing in San Mateo. "I've started putting my fingers in my ears, and I've never done that. I can see it doing damage to people's ears."
The louder horns are not just an annoyance or a potential health hazard; they have also begun impacting businesses, whose rush hour typically corresponds with Caltrain's busy commute-time schedule.
Mannix and the owners of Sibby's Cupcakery, which is also next to the Ninth Avenue crossing, said they have to put customers on hold when the train goes by. Customers on the phone say they can hear the train coming, and those who show up in person have also begun complaining about the noise, they said.
"I literally have to drop my spatula for a minute and just cringe, it's so loud," said Gina Wood, who works at Sibby's.
Marsha Jurasin, who lives four blocks away from the Burlingame Caltrain tracks, said the horns are the loudest they've been in the 26 years she's resided in the city.
"It wakes me up at night, which usually I don't wake up from the train," Jurasin said.
Jim Evans, president of Burlingame-based Five Chime Consultants, said he has asked Caltrain to install the same horn formerly used by the Southern Pacific Railroad.
"In my opinion, a locomotive horn needs to produce a noticeable but pleasant sound," Evans said. "The current Caltrain horns produce a loud, unpleasant noise."
Historically, Caltrain horns had actually been placed atop locomotives, but they were switched to the undercarriage many years ago in response to noise complaints, Dunn said.
Officials said they must balance the community's concerns with the need for safety, and asked for the public's patience.
The state high-speed train, which would operate on the Caltrain corridor, would eliminate the need for engineers to sound the horn at the 44 road intersections by constructing rail bridges to elevate the tracks above street level. The bullet train is still several years away, at best, from starting service, and has also caused significant uproar across the Peninsula.
Alicea, the mother and political science student, has coped with the horns by closing her house's 32 windows, which heats up her home and has only a minimal impact on the noise.
"It's just horrible," she said. "It doesn't sound like the nice little train that it used to be."
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