The Palm Beach Post: Officials working for miles-long ‘quiet zone’ to silence train horns

By Jennifer Sorentrue

When All Aboard Florida starts running its express passenger service along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks, Palm Beach County officials want to make sure the company won’t be required to sound train horns at rail intersections from Boca Raton to West Palm Beach.

Officials with seven local cities and towns are working to establish a continuous quiet zone to silence train horns along the FEC tracks, from the Palm Beach-Broward County line north to 15th Street in West Palm Beach. Once established, both passenger and freight trains would no longer be required to sound their horns at rail crossings in that area.

Leaders in Miami Dade and Broward counties are taking similar steps — a move that will ultimately allow the quiet zone to stretch roughly 70 miles from PortMiami to West Palm Beach.

Quiet zones require a higher level of safety, because trains don’t blow their horns at rail crossings.

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