Rail Noise and Senator Franken

District 1 staff and residents met with Senator Al Franken's staff this week to discuss the on-going problem neighbors have with CPRail noise - in particular, the squealing of the braking system that is used as railcars are shifted from one engine to another.

For several years we have been trying to work with the railroad to address this very particular problem - one that they were willing to help with in the 1990s, but which has returned with a vengeance. Despite the railroad's promise that they would arrange a site visit so that a few of us could view operations and try to figure out what has changed in the past 4-5 years, nothing has been happening and the noise is still there.

Franken's staff has committed to researching the regulations that govern the noise levels at the railroad. We feel that they are outdated and cannot address the kind of high-pitched, intermittent, short duration bursts of sound. And the staff will look into this...

We will keep you updated as we hear what the Senator's staff finds out...