(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Ken Maguire on October 20.)
BOSTON — Everett on Tuesday lifted its train horn ban and state regulators asked other communities to follow that city’s lead before another fatal accident occurs at a rail crossing.
The whistle and horn bans, many of which are undocumented, have been in the spotlight since the death last week of a teenager at a Beverly crossing.
“We are asking those communities to take a fresh look at those bans in the interest of public safety,” said Chris Goetcheus, a spokesman for the Romney administration’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. “If they don’t, the federal government likely will come January.”
The Federal Railroad Administration will assume oversight of safety regulations, including the use of whistles and horns, in January. Until then, the validity of bans likely will remain debatable. State transportation officials prefer the use of whistles, but the Legislature has passed laws giving cities and towns authority.
Everett Mayor David Ragucci, in a letter sent Tuesday to the Department of Telecommunications and Energy’s Transportation Division, said safety comes first.
“After reviewing the crossing with your diagnostic team, we determined that safety at the crossing would be enhanced with train horns being used,” wrote Ragucci, whose office phone went unanswered late Tuesday.
State Transportation Secretary Daniel Grabauskas met Tuesday with safety regulators to discuss lifting whistle bans at some rail crossings in the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority system, but they issued no edicts.
“With regard to the bans that do exist, several of these were legislatively enacted,” Goetcheus said, preventing the state from lifting them.
Regulators could, however, lift bans at 80 MBTA crossings in 20 communities because those bans are undocumented, he said. Instead, Goetcheus said, they’ve shared safety data with communities and asked them to reconsider.
Officials lifted a ban at the Beverly Farms crossing where David Siljeholm, 14, of Manchester-by-the-Sea, was struck by a commuter train on the morning of Oct. 12 after he rode his bicycle around the closed crossing gate.