Boca Raton third city in county to silence train horns

BOCA RATON — Neighbors of the Florida East Coast Railway train tracks will soon have a welcome respite from blaring horns — but city and county officials are warning the public that safety is paramount.

Quiet zones — areas along the tracks in which train horns are silenced — went into effect midnight Wednesday in Boca Raton, the third city in Palm Beach County to quiet the horns. West Palm Beach and Lake Worth also started quiet zones in May.

The news is welcome to some residents who have complained of the “loud, blaring and persistent” horns both from freight trains in the past decade and the recently debuted passen- ger rail service Brightline, said County Commissioner Steven Abrams.

Since starting service in January, Brightline has run as many as 22 trains a day between downtown West Palm Beach and downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Ahead of quiet zone imple- mentation, Boca Raton offi- cials held a news conference Wednesday, the first in a series of safety outreach efforts, to urge the public to obey signs and gate closures at train crossings.

“You can’t outrun the train. Don’t try,” interim Mayor Scott Singer said. “That should be our mantra.”

Singer said to avoid distractions that have proven fatal in the past: wearing headphones while crossing, texting or cutting across the tracks while warning lights flash or gates are down.

Brightline has completed a series of safety upgrades needed to stop the horn blasts of both passenger and freight trains at 10 crossings in Boca Raton. Still, given a handful of fatalities at train crossings following Bright- line’s debut, Brightline offi- cials, too, are urging drivers and pedestrians to cross safely.

While city leaders con- vened at Boca Raton’s historic train depot for the news conference, Boca Raton Police Department’s SWAT members were training with Brightline officials in West Palm Beach on railway safety, said Ali Soule, spokeswoman for Brightline.

“If there is an emergency situation, someone trespassing or a car stalled on the tracks, then the train engineer has the full authority to blow the horn,” Soule said. “Safety first.”

Brightline placed signs at four Boca Raton crossings — Camino Real, Glades Road, Spanish River Boulevard and Yamato Road — notifying the public of the implementation of the quiet zones. Some crossings have yellow warning signs that read “No Horns.”

Throughout the county, signs in three languages — English, Spanish and Creole — advise drivers and pedestrians that horns won’t blare, Soule said.