After hearing complaints from Max Pac abutters, I sent an email to Kate Fichter of the DOT and was given the following explanation:
For safety's sake, train engineers are required to blow their whistles whenever they believe that there could be people on the tracks. This being the case, they will sometimes blow when they see equipment (even if they don't see people), just to be extra careful. In general, the whistles should only be happening during the general hours of the field work (7am-3pm, more or less), but you may hear a stray whistle at other times if an engineer sees equipment and is concerned. We know and are regretful that the whistles are an imposition on the neighbors, but they are a bedrock requirement of train operations.
2 comments:
Or, you'll hear trains sounding their horns (not really "whistles") if, say, there are trespassers down there. At least no one's gotten hit, like in Worcester recently.
As I type this, I hear a train pass by MaxPack. It's an MBTA train, since the Amtrak trains are more well-maintained and less noisy. The freight train that went through around midnight last night was ridiculous.
Post a Comment