SOUTH BEND — After years of relative silence, residents living near the Grand Trunk Western Railroad line on the city's east side are hearing train whistles again.
The Grand Trunk Western — a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway — began using locomotive horns this past weekend along the stretch of railroad between Greenlawn Avenue to the west and Logan Street to the east. The railway says it learned of "non-compliance" with Federal Railroad Administration safety standards at several crossings.
"We take this step as a matter of public safety," Canadian National Railway spokesperson Patrick Waldron said Monday.
South Bend has been a "quiet zone" going back nearly 50 years. But in 2005, the railroad administration preempted local train-whistle bans and required communities to meet new safety standards. The city was again certified as a quiet zone in 2007. But last month, Waldron said, the railroad administration informed Canadian National of the non-compliance cases in South Bend.
City officials, however, believe those safety requirements have been met with recent construction and are now working with both Canada National and the railroad administration to resolve the issue.
South Bend "is in ongoing discussion with the Federal Railroad Administration and railroad officials to find a quick and complete resolution to the issue," the city said in statement. "While crossing safety is our highest priority, we know the noise is disruptive and are working to ensure neighborhood crossings are both safe and quiet."
According to a 2005 ruling by the railroad administration, a supplemental safety measure is defined as "a traffic control arrangement that prevents careless movement over the crossing."