GERING, Neb. — An automated horn system installed eight years ago to eliminate the noise of train horns has yet to be approved as a safe alternative, the Scottsbluff Star-Herald reported.
The horns were installed at three railroad crossings in Gering as part of a pilot program supported by the Federal Railroad Administration to test their effectiveness.
The horns are activated by an oncoming train and directed at automobile and pedestrian traffic, compared with train-mounted horns that blast their warning over a wide area.
The railroad agency is establishing rules based in part on public comment that would regulate the use of train horns at public crossings, particularly in areas where the noise has been a source of complaints, agency spokesman Robert Gould said.
Those rules could be issued late this year or early next year, Gould said.
Gould said he could not comment on specifics of the proposed rules because they were still being established.
Gering City Councilman Larry Gibbs said he was frustrated with the length of time it has taken for the rules to be finalized.
“Things are virtually the same as they were two years ago,” Gibbs said. “It’s time to get this approved so that other communities can benefit from it.”
Consultants have been optimistic that the system will gain approval by the agency, and Scottsbluff has decided to move ahead in obtaining a similar system, City Manager Rick Kuckkahn said.
Some communities are waiting for approval before spending the $25,000 installation cost for materials and labor, but others have moved forward with plans to incorporate the systems, said Robert Albritton, sales manager for Railroad Controls Limited, the company that made the system used in Gering.
Albritton said his company was confident that the railroad agency would approve the system.