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On a weekday afternoon, a VTA light rail train pulls up to Whisman Station, its bells clanging and reverberating up and down the tracks. The train waits for about a minute for passengers to get off and on, while large red lights flash and more bells ring at the station. The train then glides away to the next stop, its bells chiming until it rounds the corner.
The same scene plays out countless times a day. From a little past 5 a.m. until nearly midnight, the bells do not let up. For the residents who live near the tracks, it’s more than just a passing nuisance; it’s an unrelenting bombardment of constant noise.
“It’s killing us, literally,” said Mike Wilkes, who owns a home near Whisman Station.
Like many residents, Wilkes was attracted to the neighborhood because of its proximity to downtown Mountain View and accessibility to public transit services. But it was not long after Wilkes moved into the housing development in 1999 that community members started to raise concerns about the train horns and crossing bells.
VTA responded to these complaints, according to Wilkes, and lowered the volume, as well as the speed of the trains, which had been screeching along the tracks.
Video by Emily Margaretten.
Community-wide complaints did not surface again for nearly two decades. But then in 2018, VTA did an extensive remodel of Whisman Station, significantly increasing the number of lights and bells at the rail crossings.
“It used to be a really simple crossing,” said Brad Vollmer, whose home faces the station. “I literally woke up one day and there were twice as many (lights and bells),” he said, adding that it looks more like an industrial crossing now, even though it’s only open to pedestrian traffic.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) stipulates that VTA sound bells at all of its crossings and when trains are entering and leaving stations. It also sets the volume level of train horns at 75 decibels, which can be heard 100 feet away from the front of a train, according to VTA spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross.
Compared to other neighborhoods, Whisman has a lot of rail crossings, meaning that more bells are ringing in a more concentrated area than in other residential parts of the city.
“We kind of lived with that for a while,” Vollmer said. But then in the summer of 2022, VTA introduced new horns on its trains and started sounding them more often, sending the community into another auditory tailspin.
“The noise went off the charts,” Vollmer said. “They (VTA) quit honoring the reduced noise zone as well and the whole neighborhood went crazy, like what’s going on? The noise level just went way up.”
In a routine inspection, CPUC had determined that VTA was not following state regulations and needed to sound bells more often at all of its crossings. Around the same time, VTA replaced its mechanical train bells with digital ones that had a higher pitch. The bells also were placed on top of trains, instead of underneath, which made them sound louder, Ross said.
Responding to these concerns, VTA lowered the pitch of the bells in October 2023 and started sounding them only at the front of trains and not at both ends. Complaints have lessened since then, Ross said.
A Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light-rail route (red line) runs in the middle of more than 500 homes (each development marked by a house icon) surrounding the Whisman station in Mountain View. Gray rectangles indicate crossings. The blue block marks a proposed housing development with 860 units. Graphic by Jamey Padojino.
However, the way that people perceive sound is complex, according to Wilkes, who has an academic background in psychoacoustics. The sound of the bells, which are at a higher pitch than before, propagates quickly and channels through the entire housing complex, he said.
To try and mitigate the noise, Wilkes replaced the windows on his townhouse. It cost $25,000 and was only partially effective, he said, adding that he and his wife no longer open their windows or work or eat outside on their porch.
Other residents reported similar experiences. Arjan Dehar moved into the neighborhood in 2014. Like Wilkes, Dehar also had noise-reducing windows installed in his home and although it has helped, the sound of the bells still penetrates through his windows, often disrupting his sleep. “Safety is important for trains and people crossing the tracks, but it’s excessive in the volume and duration,” he said.
Dehar also noted the inconsistency of how train operators deploy bells. Sometimes they hit them just as they are entering or departing the station while other times, they keep sounding the horns well after the train has left the station – an observation that was verified by this news organization.
Although VTA has made incremental changes to lower the volume of its train and crossing bells, overall, it has not been enough for the Whisman residents. In December, they circulated a petition, signed by 250 community members, asking the city of Mountain View to intervene and address the issue head on.
One of their requests was to classify the neighborhood as a “quiet zone,” similar to what has happened with a portion of VTA’s Verona Corridor in San Jose, where train and crossing bells are not routinely sounded in some residential areas.
When the Voice asked about the possibility of establishing a quiet zone, the city responded by email that it was looking into the option, although it did not know if the VTA light rail segment in the Whisman area would qualify for this designation by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). It also said that, per FRA regulations, a quiet zone does not eliminate the sounding of train horns or bells at stations; it only applies to rail-grade crossings.
Furthermore, if the light rail segment does not fall within FRA jurisdiction, then the issue would go back to VTA to determine how to best mitigate the volume of the bells while also adhering to CPUC regulations.
As a further complication, even if the Whisman neighborhood did fall under FRA jurisdiction, a quiet zone designation would not go into effect anytime soon. “An FRA quiet zone process can take many years involving significant staff time and may require major capital improvements at the crossings,” the city said.
Whisman residents are frustrated not only by the incessant noise but also by the lack of communication from VTA and the city. According to Wilkes and Vollmer, nobody consulted with the community about the installation of the new train or crossing bells.
Technically, VTA doesn’t have to notify the community. “There is no requirement for environmental clearance for the installation of new bells required to meet CPUC regulations,” Ross said.
Pressed by residents, the city did meet with VTA to discuss options to reduce train noise in the Whisman neighborhood and is setting up a joint meeting with VTA and community members, although it did not specify the timeline.
Residents like Vollmer, however, are wary of what lies ahead. “They changed the bells. They didn’t talk to anybody and all of a sudden, we’re left with all this noise,” he said.
“The noise has gotten a little better… but it’s not back to where it should be. And we have no faith that the VTA will actually put in safeguards to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he added.
Good article Emily! I’m sensitive to the neighbors, but c’mon guys, you moved there knowing full-well in your home disclosure report that there were bells and horns you can hear from your home. This is like people moving next to a frat house and complaining about drunk students. Buyer beware.
Now if they are exceeding the decibels/strength more than is legally permissable, or have increased by a significant amount vs when you moved in, that’s a slightly different story. But otherwise, you knew about it on day one. Every single one of those homes were built after the VTA light rail was built.
That’s incorrect, Ramirez. See https://www.mountainviewhistorical.org/mountain-view-history-timeline/. Whisman Station homes were here before the light rail extension.
I wonder how much it would cost to elevate the tracks at Whisman and Middlefield. Then trains could run faster without making so much noise or traffic (in my opinion, that’s what should happen for the entire line).
How do you figure that, Mr. England? The page you linked to only mentions one station, the one downtown. I don’t believe that a developer would have put ‘Station’ in the name of the development if there were no train there.
Yeah. No Bruce. You’re mostly wrong.
The station opened in 1999. The oldest condos opened in 1998. The houses on the east side were built in 2006. You can check Redfin for the “built” year.
I’m assuming most of the existing condo buyers are not the originals, which is a safe assumption given it’s been 25years and it probably took a year or two to sell all the condos. In any case, they bought because there was going to be a train in their backyard.