Noise Complaints Prompt Railroad Schedule Change In Mooresville

MOORESVILLE, NC — Norfolk Southern Railroad has altered its switch schedule in downtown Mooresville to daytime hours after it received a barrage of community complaints about train horns in the middle of the night, according to a local business official.

In January, the railroad implemented a new switch schedule of Monday through Saturday, 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. It didn’t take long for complaints to begin from Mooresville residents near downtown who were annoyed by the unexpected train horns in the middle of the night.

"Every week for the past three weeks, the train whistle blares and you can hear it for hours, waking you from a dead sleep, from miles away," Mooresville resident Lisa Necky told Patch. "It even woke my two kids last night and we're far off of Main Street."

Many of the complaints were aimed at Bay State Milling Company, which the railroad services. “We cannot eliminate the switches as that is how we bring in grain to our facility,” Bay State Milling Company Plant Manager Sean Costello told Patch Friday.

RELATED: Train Horn Blasts Keeping Mooresville Residents Up At Night

“When the change happened, the complaints did come in to us locally, our Corporate offices and the Town. It is my understanding the Mayor’s office was in contact with NCDOT as well to see what could be done,” Costello said.

“The railroad did respond favorably, and was willing to make another change due to the feedback from the local residents, Town Officials and Bay State Milling,” he said.

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