Judge Seeks More in Flagstaff's Silent Train Plan

As a cool escape for heat-stricken desert dwellers in Phoenix, nearby Flagstaff relies heavily on tourism. But with trains blaring their horns on average every 15 minutes day and night, tourists have long been annoyed, and that has city officials worried.

"If we have tourists who come to Flagstaff and vow they're never going to come back because they didn't get a good night's sleep, that's a major issue for the City of Flagstaff," said Rick Barrett, Flagstaff's city engineer.

City officials have been trying for three years to create a quiet zone that would prevent train engineers from tooting their horns in town and give a reprieve to tired tourists and weary residents. An administrative judge from the Arizona Corporation Commission on Wednesday asked for more information from lawyers, city officials and railroad personnel before ruling on the first such case to reach the Corporation Commission.

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Much of the needed safety equipment, which includes vehicle and pedestrian barriers and stationary speakers, had already been installed at ground-level crossings when a state regulatory agency
stepped in earlier this year saying the city needed its approval.

The commission staff plans to decide within three months whether to punish the city for installing the speakers, called wayside horns, without first receiving approval.

"We take our rules seriously because we believe it's important that these issues come before us to ensure public safety," Commissioner Kris Mayes said Wednesday.

Randy Whitaker, Flagstaff's senior project manager in charge of the train project, said that crews removed the horns after Commission staff expressed concerns. He said the horns were never
hooked up and the city never intended to use them without approval from the commission.

Wayside horns sound like traditional locomotive horns and are triggered along with crossing gates when trains approach. Officials said they can be pointed directly at the intersection to limit sound dispersion into surrounding neighborhoods. City engineers plan to use them at two intersections.

At three other crossings, officials plan to use street medians and pedestrian barriers that make it more difficult for people to enter a track as a train approaches.

The judge requested the information in about a month's time. The commissioners have the final say on Flagstaff's proposal but it was not immediately known when they planned to make a decision.