Ioco residents say train whistling has become ‘unbearable’ and needs to be stopped

The amount of noise from train whistles along Ioco Road is “unbearable,” a group of concerned Port Moody residents say.

A delegation spoke before council on Nov. 26, presenting a petition signed by 65 residents living on Ioco, Sentinel, San Remo, Alderside and Bentley roads.

“Everybody is very upset with what’s happening,” said Rosemary Small, who led the delegation. “The noise levels are negatively impacting our health and the enjoyment of our homes.”

As a result of their complaints, Mayor Meghan Lahti has decided to reestablish a defunct train taskforce to resolve the issues with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC).

Small, a resident of San Remo Road for 35 years, said that starting this year, CPKC trains have been making “inappropriate and unnecessary” noise at all hours of the night.

Train whistles have been logged as early as 3:30 a.m. over the past month, according to the delegation.

“After decades of comfortably coexisting with CP rail, the Ioco neighborhoods are being bombarded at night with blaring horns,” Small said. “The disruption of sleep caused during the night by trains has reached its limit.”

While the trains used to only use their whistles at the Alderside Road crossing, this year the engineers are sounding them at two crossings on San Remo Road, the group said.

One particularly loud engineer has even been dubbed “Captain Hornblower” by the group.

Coun. Haven Lurbiecki noted that she can even hear the whistling as far away as Newport Village.

Small referenced previous negotiations between CPKC and the city, in which the rail operator agreed to only run the trains at reasonable times, and refrain from blowing their whistles past Murray Street Crossing.

“I have no idea why they have suddenly changed this year to this loud and aggressive blowing,” she said. “We question why CP agreed that there’s no need to whistle blow at Murray, a major road with pedestrians and vehicles, but is now blowing at each end of San Remo.”

Jeff Moi, general manager of engineering and operations for the city, said staff have regular contact with CPKC staff, and have been sharing the negative feedback.

In turn, CPKC has been providing contact information to residents, but also noting that there have been no changes to account for the added noise.

“From my understanding, they have been following the same procedures,” Moi said. “But what we are hearing is there’s some different experiences on the ground.”

In an email to the Dispatch, CPKC stated their “activity in the area is operating normally,” adding Transport Canada requires train whistling at every public crossing across Canada.

The delegation also said the noise is also disturbing wildlife, as a local heron colony lives near the area.

They requested council meet with CPKC rail representatives to urge them to only run the trains from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and to not sound their whistles at their crossings.

“We are asking that the city restore the quality of our life in our community, and take immediate action,” Small said.

Coun. Diana Dilworth recalled the city had numerous noise problems with CPKC several years ago, but had worked professionally together to resolve the issues.

She moved for the delegation’s request to be put on a future agenda, after the new task force provides recommendations.

“I thought we were on a good track,” Dilworth said. “Clearly that this is unacceptable.”