Caltrain horn noise remains in San Mateo

However, stations like San Mateo, is an at-grade crossing and has more stringent requirements, which includes sounding the horn more frequently and within a specified radius.

In addition to the Hillsdale grade separation project, the city has also been working to make certain places a designated quiet zone — where horns will not be obliged to sound as often — by closing a couple vehicle crossings or implementing four-quadrant gates. But some residents and leaders say they hope the investments made will in fact result in lower train horn noise.

“Out of the millions of dollars spent on grade separation … what we are trying to understand is why they are requiring horns at Hillsdale station,” San Mateo City Manager Alex Khojikian said.

San Mateo resident Dennis Bogusz lives a little more than a quarter mile from the Hayward Park station and said he and other impacted residents haven’t seen much reprieve since September.

“The scenario has not changed or improved,” Bogusz said. “They’re still routinely being blown close to Hayward Park and occasionally from Hillsdale.”

Initially, Caltrain said the complaints likely arose from the more frequent train schedule since electrification. But many residents are adamant that the horn hardly sounded in their area prior to electrification and the change is more than just a slight increase in frequency. Now, it is nearly constant from early morning to late at night, Bogusz said.

The location and frequency of train horn noise is not the only issue residents have expressed frustration over since electrification. In the first several weeks of the new cars’ launch, horn noise was set to a higher decibel level. Caltrain initially maintained the noise was within the federal decibel range but eventually conceded the trains were set to a higher range than the diesel cars, eventually resetting them last month.

In a meeting with Caltrain and city officials on Wednesday, Dec. 18, Khojikian said the agency agreed to conduct an audit in San Mateo in January to ensure the horns are being sounded properly. He added it still seems there is some uncertainty over the state and federal rules that dictate where and how horn noise is sounded at pedestrian-crossing stations like Hayward Park.

In a statement from Caltrain spokesperson Dan Lieberman, the agency follows the General Code of Operating Rules, which requires that “horns be sounded at all public crossings” and that “a public crossing is defined as a highway-rail or pathway crossing under the jurisdiction of a public authority and open to public travel.” While the GCOR is an industry standard, the agency was unable to confirm whether the document was legally binding in time for publication.

Bogusz said that the lack of clarity from Caltrain over what state and federal law dictates is concerning.

“If there was an emergency or a pending lawsuit, I would think they’d be able to mobilize a lot quicker to find this information out,” he said. “The fact that they can’t do that raises some questions about what rules they are following.”

Officials have also pointed to a parking track construction project between 10th Avenue and 14th Avenue, which was also causing more horn noise to be blown. Lieberman said construction should be completed by the end of the month.

The agency committed to holding a community meeting in San Mateo during the week of Jan. 27, Khojikian said.