(The following story by Andrew Coen appeared on the Nassau Herald website on September 1.)
NEW YORK — The decibel level of train horns will remain the same, at least for now, but Five Towners will hear fewer blasts by Long Island Rail Road engineers as a result of the Federal Railroad Administration’s Aug. 17 decision to ease regulations.
The changes, which have already taken effect but do not become mandatory until Dec. 15, will benefit the Five Towns and other heavily populated South Shore communities where train stations are located close to one another. Under the new regulations, conductors will be required to reduce the number of times they blow train horns when departing from a station.
Previously, conductors were mandated by federal regulations to give two long horn blasts, one short one and another long one – a total of four blasts. The new regulations will require only two short blasts, and give conductors discretion to decrease the use of the horn when railroad crossings are in close proximity to one another. That is the case throughout the Far Rockaway branch, which includes stops in Far Rockaway, Inwood, Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Hewlett, Gibson and Valley Stream.
Jack Mevorach lives in an apartment building next to the Cedarhurst station, and founded the Train Noise Abatement Association last year in response to what he described as “unbearable” train horns that have kept him up at night. Mevorach said that winning a reduction in blasts is a step in the right direction. “At least with the honking, the remedies are in place,” he said. “This is just one little piece of the puzzle, but it definitely is an improvement.”
“It’s a small step in the right direction,” said Tom Dunham, a spokesman for Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), who has pressed federal officials to change regulations in response to complaints from residents.
The volume of the horns that residents have complained to LIRR officials about in the past year will, however, remain unchanged. As a result of new federal mandates, the horns now used register between 96 and 110 decibels at a distance of 100 feet from the track, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials.
Jean Kalb, who has lived in an apartment adjacent to the Cedarhurst station for six years, said the horns’ volume is the problem, and not the number of blasts. Kalb said that since the LIRR began blasting the horns at well over 100 decibels, she has been at risk for seizures from a brain tumor she has been suffering with. “For me it’s a major health issue,” she said. “The noise is to a point where I can’t sit down on my terrace.”
Odelia Goldberg of Lawrence, who is challenging Skelos for his seat in the state Senate, said she does not believe the new regulations will solve the noise problem since the MTA, which operates the LIRR, will still have discretion over how many blasts are sounded when a train is doing something other than departing a station. “All the regulations and all the changes to the regulations have no impact, because we can’t control the MTA,” said Goldberg.
The “wayside” horn, which was tested by LIRR officials in Cedarhurst in June, registers 92 decibels at 100 feet, and the sound travels down the track rather than being widely dispersed, according to transportation officials. Dunham said that Skelos has still not received a consensus from Cedarhurst village officials on whether they would like to see wayside horns installed, but Mayor Andrew Parise said in a phone interview that the feedback officials got from residents was negative.
Parise said that while he would still like to see train horns’ decibel levels reduced, eliminating some of the horn blasts will be beneficial for residents as well. “That’s a big help,” said Parise. “That’s half the battle.”
U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) introduced legislation late last year that would eliminate the requirement that trains sound their horns at crossings during non-rush-hour periods. She said that while the current changes in train horn rules are an improvement, her bill would accomplish far more. “People who live near train tracks are willing to tolerate some noise, but let’s leave it up to the driver as to when an off-peak sounding of the horn is necessary,” she said.