Residents Frustrated With Early Morning Freight Trains

FOXBOROUGH, MA — The residents on County, Summer, and Spring streets don’t need to be told when the early morning train comes by their homes. All they need to do is hear the whistles that wake them up from their sleep. Now, those being impacted by the trains are saying that they’ve had enough of the loud reminders that locomotives come by before the sun rises.

About 25 residents from Foxborough and Mansfield gathered with local and state officials at the meeting arranged by state Rep. Jay Barrows at the Kennedy-Donovan Center Monday to discuss what can be done about the trains and recently track work. All the residents had the same stories of freight trains rumbling by between 1-4 a.m., blasting its horn, and sometimes blocking the road by stopping at crossings for several minutes at a time.

“You can’t hide a freight train. You can’t put your blinds down, you can’t close your door,” Foxborough resident Donald DiMauro said. “The disturbing levels of noise are intolerable and the hours of operation are infuriating.”

The train idling at the Spring Street crossing is what had many residents concerned, with some noting that it makes road accessibility more difficult in the event of an accident or an emergency.

James Eng, deputy rail administrator for MassDOT, said the work being done on the tracks is because CSX, original owner of the line, did not take care of the railways.

“If CSX did everything right and did the maintenance on the track, we wouldn’t be doing what we’re doing,” Eng said.

Eng added that the trains idling on the tracks is due to the train’s crew hitting a 12-hour limit on work.

“Once they hit that 12-hour limit, a new crew has to jump on. They’re following the rules. There’s nothing (we) can do about that,” he said.

The town might be able to request an exemption from the law which states that trains have to blow their horn. Doing so would make Foxborough a whistle-free zone but also forces the town to assume all safety liability.

Barrows said he would contact CSX with the residents’ concerns and attempt to organize a second meeting.

Image Credit: Dan Libon