YORBA LINDA : Train Whistles Won’t Be Silenced
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Train engineers may continue to sound their whistles in Yorba Linda, the City Council decided, rejecting a proposal to silence them.
City Atty. Leonard A. Hampel warned the council that if the ordinance to outlaw train whistle-blowing were enacted, the city could expect lawsuits in the event of an accident.
“If an engineer doesn’t blow the whistle because of this ordinance, and someone gets killed, we could be sued,” Hampel said.
Hampel said the ordinance would conflict with a state Public Utilities Commission law requiring engineers to blow train whistles 1,300 feet from intersections.
Councilman Mark Schwing proposed the ordinance after residents complained to him about noise from the trains.
“I’ve had nothing but positive comments (about the proposal) from people who say their sleep is disturbed,” Schwing said. “A lot of people in east Yorba Linda have complaints about the trains.”
The number of trains that run along the tracks bordering the city’s southern limits has doubled in the past 10 years.
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