Rail Quiet Zone In Middletown Moving Forward

A project to prevent trains from blowing their horns in the area of Woodbourne Train Station is moving forward.

The Middletown Board of Supervisors voted to approve advertisement of the Woodbourne Road Quiet Zone Project at their meeting on Tuesday evening.

The project is expected to reduce noise and improve safety for pedestrians and motorists in the area of the Woodbourne Train Station along Woodbourne Road by creating a special area where trains will have to reduce their speed and could move through without blowing their horns, a regular complaint for residents of nearby homes.

Middletown officials have worked over the past several years with SEPTA, PennDOT, CSX, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, Federal Railroad Administration, and Bucks County Conservation District to plan the project.

Bids are going to be solicited. The township said the project received a $177,800 grant in 2016 through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Middletown will lead the project with some aspects handled by CSX, which owns the tracks, and SEPTA, which uses them for the West Trenton Line and operates the Woodbourne Train Station.

According to Township Engineer Isaac Kessler and plans, a larger gate with flashing lights will be installed along with stop bars across Woodbourne Road and a pedestrian crossing over the tracks. The gates are designed so that vehicles and pedestrians are not on the tracks when a commuter or freight train is coming through the crossing.

The pedestrian crossing at Woodbourne Road will also be improved as part of the project, Kessler said.

When the upgrades are finalized, trains will no longer have to sound their loud horns a half a mile before they get to the crossing, which is required by federal law with the current configuration. The idea behind quiet zones is to increase safety at rail crossings to reduce noise from sounding horns.

The Woodbourne Road Quiet Zone is projected to roughly run along the rail lines from the Maple Avenue (Route 213) overpass to the area where Big Oak Road becomes parallel with the tracks. The total length of the zone is 1.25 miles.

Once the bid is awarded and work begins, no long-term closures on Woodbourne Road are expected, Kessler said.

For years, the township has heard complaints from residents near the tracks about horns and whistles being blown, including early in the morning or late at night.

Lower Makefield in the past few years has created a quiet zone that runs across the rail crossings at Heacock Road, Edgewood Road, and Stony Hill Road.

Train traffic has increased along the line as CSX added a third track that travels through the area.

The Woodbourne Road Quiet Zone project, however, is not expected to impact traffic backups that can occur along the roadway due to CSX trains. The problem stems from freight trains that are using the CSX Woodbourne Rail Yard about 1,500-feet away from the Woodbourne Train Station. Trains blocking the intersection or stopping close enough to sensors that deploy the safety gates across Woodbourne Road have caused delays as long as an hour.

The township, state, and federal officials have all had conversations with CSX about fixing the problem. The township has even issued tickets against CSX, its employees, and taken the freight railroad transportation company to court over the years. The problem for the township comes down to federal rules that give rail companies the upper hand.

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