Neighbors In San Dimas Appeal For Silencing Of Train Horns

SAN DIMAS (CBSLA.com) — Many living in San Dimas are angered by what they say are louder and longer train horns by Metrolink.

During a City Council meeting Tuesday, Jim Robertson demonstrated the type of sound he wakes up to on his homemade horn.

"What I wake up to at 4:49 every morning and for 30-something times a day," he said.

And a woman brought in cellphone video to show how long she can hear the horn, which lasted 33 seconds in that clip.

But Metrolink says federal law requires a horn to last a quarter of a mile as the train enters the crossing. And at times, there are a series of crossings in a row.

A spokesperson for Metrolink says just this year they've been leasing freight locomotives that have louder horns.

It's in response to a federal investigation still underway, but they say they do not plan to renew that lease when it's up at the end of October.

"We hear what they are saying. We understand that the freight locomotives are louder and we are doing what we can to make them quieter," Scott Johnson, a Metrolink spokesman, said.

But for residents in the area, that may not be enough.

They want the city to fight for quiet zones. It would exempt the crossings from the horns but could cost millions to build safety measures.

The City Council meeting ended with a plan to hold a community meeting and discuss the issue further. That date has yet to be set.