Quiet Zone Revoked: Why Trains In Waltham Are Honking All Hours

WALTHAM, MA — If you noticed trains sounding off in Waltham more than usual— or at all— that's because Waltham was among a handful of communities that had its status as a "Quiet Zone" revoked.

According to a spokesperson at the Federal Railway Administration, during the week of April 26, the federal body determined that city crossings lacked required supplemental safety measures that the city was requested to have going back to 2008, and thus no longer qualified as a quiet zone.

This means the whistles and honking will sound for every train crossing in the city. Without a quiet zone, train engineers are required to sound horns or whistles for at least 15 seconds as they approach an intersection.

Residents noticed right away.

City Councilor John McLaughlin lives about a half a mile from the Beaver Street crossing and said he was watching TV last Wednesday with the windows closed when he heard the train come through.

It was so unusual, he remembered it.

"I thought someone had tricked out their pickup truck horn to make it sound like a train," he said. Since Wednesday, he's had people calling and emailing about it.

"I've got constituents reaching out to me, many who have lived in Waltham for 50 years, who have never heard on a regular basis any train horns," he said. "It's frustrating, especially for those who live close to those intersections."

So Monday night he brought an emergency resolution to the city council to address the situation as quickly as possible.

"This is an untenable situation," he said before the meeting. "As far as I know we don't have any information on how this happened."

How DID it happen?

The ruling comes as the Federal Railroad Administration is in the process of inspecting more than 900 quiet zones nationwide to assess their compliance with 49 CFR Part 222, the regulation governing locomotive horn sounding at highway-rail grade crossings, and the process by which communities establish quiet zones, including "pre-rule quiet zones," such as Waltham.

Waltham was still among the 29 Massachusetts municipalities approved as a quiet zone as of April 14, but two weeks later, as part of the review, it no longer qualified.

A spokesperson for the FRA did not say how many times the body has performed such an inspection of the quiet zones.

Waltham has been designated a quiet zone going back to at least 2008, according to the FRA. The city committed that year to adding supplemental safety measures or alternative safety measures, but has not done so, according to the FRA.

McLaughlin said the Beaver Street crossing underwent renovation in 2014 when the city needed to replace the culvert. Both the MBTA and Keolis made upgrades to the crossing, he said, adding if there was an issue it wasn't brought up then.

The FRA spokesperson said both the city planner's office and the MBTA were verbally told two weeks ago about the loss of the designation.

"The FRA notified the MBTA in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 4," confirmed MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo. "And the MBTA alerted Waltham’s City Engineer that same afternoon."

Later that same day, the MBTA notified state and local elected officials, he said.

Still, it came as a surprise to residents, who say they were not notified.

Danger?

Some 94 percent of rail-related fatalities and injuries occur at railroad crossings or because of trespassing, according to the FRA website.

In the past decade, there have been 23 train-related fatalities in Middlesex County, three of those were at train grade crossings in the county. During that same time frame, there were four non-fatal incidents at grade crossings, according to FRA data.

"There has not been any type of issue or accident —at least at the Beaver Street crossing— for a good 30 years, even before that few and far between," McLaughlin said. "It doesn't make any sense."

What's next?

If a quiet zone is found to be noncompliant, or not adequately maintained, it is subject to cancellation or temporary revocation, imposition of civil penalties or the initiation of individual liability actions; or the issuance of emergency orders suspending operations as a quiet zone and requiring the resumption of routine locomotive horn sounding, until it is in compliance with the applicable law and regulations, according to the FRA. In this case, the only penalty is the return of the horns, a spokesperson said.

The city can add safety measures to the grade crossings and then reapply for a quiet zone permit from the Federal Railroad Administration.

McLaughlin said he checked with the mayor's office. He also reached out to Sen. Ed Markey, Congresswoman Katherine Clark and Sen. Elizabeth Warren Friday. Markey told him he would look into what happened. And Mayor Jeannette McCarthy has asked the traffic engineer and commission to inquire.

"We're going to have to do something," McLaughlin said. "It's not tenable, it's not a tenable situation for the family who has a 3-month-old or the older people who have trouble sleeping at the Mill or the students at Brandeis who are trying to study.... We need to do whatever needs to be done to make sure we can silence these horns."

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.