FRA maintains area exemption on train horns
by ROBERT ELFINGER
Article Courtesy of the Reporter

A federal rule requiring train horns to be sounded at many crossings which took effect on June 24 should not have much effect on the Chicago area, which is temporarily exempt from the law.

The rule issued by the Federal Railroad Administration requires train horns to be sounded for safety reasons at all grade crossings with certain exceptions. The rule preempts most applicable state laws, but Northeastern Illinois has many areas which have been designated as quiet zones where horns can't be sounded, so the FRA has granted a temporary exemption pending further studies. There are 430 designated quiet zones in the Chicago area.

"If all goes well and if railroads are up to speed on the quiet crossings, there shouldn't be many problems," said Chicago Area Transportation Study director of community liaisons Joy Schaad.

CATS has notified the Union Pacific, Canadian Pacific, Burlington Northern/Santa Fe, Beltrailway, CSX and Illinois Harbor Belt railroads, as well as Amtrak and Metra, about the exemption from the new rule granted to Northeastern Illinois by the agency. Schaad said that it is possible that some train engineers will make mistakes. "A lot of railroads who own tracks lease them to other companies to operate on them," she said.

CATS also has provided municipal officials whose towns have quiet zones a list of contacts to call if horns begin blaring in their communities.
THE EXEMPTION will remain in effect pending regional safety studies that have yet to be scheduled. The FRA expects that when the studies are completed, it will take more than a year to analyze the data.

"Chicago presented a unique situation because they've grown up with railway traffic," said FRA spokesman Steve Kulm. "Motorists in Chicago know to expect trains." The relationship with the railroads also has forced Chicago and suburban municipalities to create safer crossings, Kulm said.

Chicago is the busiest rail hub in the country and has 2,000 rail crossings in an area where thousands of trains compete with millions of vehicles each day. Despite the congestion and population density, "there are fewer accidents at whistle-ban crossings in Chicago than other areas of the country," Kulm said. "The statistics definitely show that there are less railway accidents in Chicago."

The FRA will use the studies to create a formula to determine the safety of railroad crossings that takes into account the number of trains passing per day, the number of vehicles crossing the tracks per day, and the history and location of the crossing.

Using that formula, the agency could require safety upgrades, which could include the installation of crossing gates that block both lanes of traffic in both directions or a median divider to prevent drivers from crossing lanes and going around a lowered gate. Closing the crossings at night, converting two-way streets into oneway streets with gates, using automated horn systems installed at a crossing, or installing photo-enforced technology also are options. Depending on what safety measures are needed, the cost to municipalities who want to maintain or implement quiet zones could total $250,000 per crossing.

THE NEW REGULATIONS provide for six types of quiet zones, ensures the involvement of state agencies and railroads in the quiet zone development process, gives communities credit for existing safety.