Dartmouth's nighttime train whistle could be gone in weeks

Dartmouth residents hoping for an end to late nighttrain whistles will have to wait a little longer.

CN Rail and city officials are working on one moresafety update before the loud blasts can be stopped.

"The people that are in direct line of sight of the train ... they're bothered a lot,"said WyattMcLean, who lives at Admiralty Place.

"People that can'tsee the train it's not as bad, but it'll still wake you upif you have your windows open."

CN freight trains began leaning on the horn, even inthe middle of the night, after the King's Wharf condos went up.CN officials have said they have no other choice,given the increased car andpedestrian traffic.

Earlier this year, developer Francis Fares, the cityand CN agreed to share the cost of some safety upgrades to the King'sWharf crossing.There were hopes the train whistles wouldbe stopped by the end of the summer, but they have continued.

"At the timeCN did theirabsolute final inspection to confirmthe infrastructure was in place to allow the whistle to stop, theydiscovered evidence of trespassing on the right-of-way," said city spokesperson SteveHiggins.

The illegal crossings are taking place closer to the former Dartmouth City Hall and achildren's playground than they are to King's Wharf.

CN Railwants a fence andHiggins says cityand rail officials have been negotiating a cost-sharing agreement.

"It looks like it's about 450 metres or so of fencing." he said."We believe right now it's probably in the range of about $50,000."

The fencing project needs approval from city council.Onceit is installed, CN will have to reinspect the area and then make arequest to Transport Canada to have the train whistles stopped.

Higgins hopes that is only weeks, not months away.