Outlaw train whistles

I believe that in small towns with less than 20,000 people, train whistles should not be allowed between 10 PM-5 AM. In my small town, we have six crossings and the trains run through about every half hour of the day and night. There are never people sitting at these crossings in the early morning hours, and for that reason, it doesn’t seem very common sense-like that these whistles are being used. We did not purchase our house by railroad tracks yet when it’s early in the morning and there is no town making noise, the sound is extreme (over 70 decibels). I have never been able to open my windows at night because of trains. That is very frustrating. People usually respond to me saying that I should just move. Well, this isn’t 1995 anymore and you can’t just pack up and leave whenever you feel like it. Others, who don’t live by tracks, argue that they enjoy the train sound. I can guarantee you if you lived by the tracks you wouldn’t enjoy it. I’ve also heard that (distant) train whistles help them fall asleep. The sound machine that I am FORCED to use has a train setting. By all means use it.

There is zero scientific evidence that points to that high of decibels being good for a brain and especially at REM sleep. It’s actually quite bad which doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to understand and there are countless studies on sound while sleeping. My small brain can think of an easy solution if society is so scared of somehow not hearing or seeing the 100+ ton noise maker. Install large mirrors at crossings to which you can stop your car and look all you want to avoid driving in front of them. School busses stop and look, why can’t you? The FRA is a joke to begin with, so why not overhaul the whole thing? Start with the outlaw of these pointless night whistles.

Lastly, train whistles are not the reason for all of the train derailments we have seen in the news lately. They are a nuisance.

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We went from policy page to complaint column…

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If you’re take on that is complaining, then this site is pointless.

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What I wrote wasn’t entirely constructive. I apologize.
The site is for national issues.

Train whistles are very complicated to regulate. Not all 20k citizen cities are the same. Many are located within major metropolitan areas, where train horns are vital for safety.

Posting a local issue on a national site isn’t constructive.
Perhaps they don’t express this perfectly in the intro, but if you look at the tags, you’ll see that they are all federal agencies, with no local agencies listed. See the tag list here: Policies for the People

Again, I apologize for not being constructive in my original comment.

The train horn policy idea is hyperlocal and thus not constructive for national debate, or policies, unless far more detail, nuance and widespread impacts are considered first.

Hope this helps.

If the tracks were there before you moved there, it was a conscious decision. Do you know how stupid drivers can be around trains? It is a necessary safety issue.

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See, I agree with you except the noise level wasn’t disclosed, and we aren’t from this area so didn’t know they were there. I’m a full mile from the tracks and it’s loud enough for me to make a post on here. I also don’t buy the safety issue. It shouldn’t be my (large population) fault someone was careless and not paying attention at Railroad tracks which is engraved in all of us at a young age, that it’s dangerous. Stop making others pay for one’s own stupidity

Thanks. I’ve done more research on trains in the past 2 years than I care to admit. My city council and state senators office give me the most blanket responses you could imagine. I’ve even wrote to the FRA and to my surprise they responded but again, blanket safety response.

I get places are different but that doesn’t mean everyone should have the same rules. My town does not need whistles. At all. If the town down the street does then so be it, keep them. It is very much a local issue but when the local government can’t help, you have to go higher, which is why I’m here.