Saturday, February 06, 1999
Boehner gets on board in fight against train whistles
Bureaucratic battle moves to next level
BY JANET C. WETZEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — The city's efforts to stop trains from blowing their whistles in residential zones during late-night hours has won the support of U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-West Chester.
Still, peace and quiet appear to be a long way off.
Mr. Boehner wrote a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) asking that the agency issue a waiver that would allow trains to stop blowing whistles in quiet zones that have been tentatively negotiated between Middletown and Conrail.
“It is my understanding that the city of Middletown received assurances in March 1998, from officials at your agency that its request for a quiet zone waiver could be considered despite the fact that the new (FRA safety) regulations were not yet formalized,” Mr. Boehner wrote.
Seeking a waiver
“Because the 104th Congress amended the High Speed Rail Act in 1996 to allow the adoption of quiet zones, your agency is clearly empowered to issue a waiver to Middletown and communities like it in such circumstances,” the letter said.
FRA officials said they have not had time to review Mr. Boehner's letter. But Pamela Barry, FRA director of public affairs, said new regulations being drawn up now will include quiet-zone provisions.
“We're willing to work with these communities to resolve these issues,” Ms. Barry said.
Last month, after the city was notified by FRA that it cannot order trains to cease blowing their whistles in the city, they took their 22-year train-whistle battle to Congress.
City Manager Ron Olson wrote a letter to U.S. Sens. Mike DeWine and George Voinovich, both Republicans from Ohio, and Mr. Boehner.
Mr. Olson's letter said that in 1976 the city passed an ordinance prohibiting trains from sounding their whistles within the corporate limits except in emergencies. But railroads refused to comply. Then the city won a court battle and railroads complied until October 1991, when legal battles began again.
Courts agreed the city law was legal, but refused to order the railroads to stop the whistles, Mr. Olson's letter said. That was followed by a change in the city law and more court battles.
“Because of the mandates contained in the High Speed Rail Act of 1994, local governments are severely restricted” in dealing with the whistles in highly populated areas, Mr. Olson's letter continued. That act required the FRA to develop regulations regarding grade-crossing safety and required the blowing of whistles at every crossing without supplemental safety devices, he said.
“The FRA said send up your quiet-zone plan (worked out with the railroad) and we'll review it,” said Les Landen, Middletown law director. It was submitted in March 1998 and was rejected late last year, he said.
Concerns about collisions
Grady Cothen, FRA deputy associate administrator for safety standards, said an extensive study in the late 1980s showed that train-vehicle crashes tripled when whistles were silenced at grade crossings.
In 1996, the 1994 congressional mandate requiring FRA to draw up regulations including requiring trains to sound whistles at crossings was amended to allow some flexibility. In those regulations, now being drawn up, quiet zones could be allowed in some instances when alternatives to whistles are in place, Mr. Cothen said.
“We can't issue a waiver to a rule we've not yet issued,” Mr. Cothen said. “But we may be able to help out in this situation. We need to be able to understand the facts, the options.”
Mr. Olson said he's pleased that Mr. Boehner responded, and is cautiously optimistic a solution may be found soon.
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