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Last week, Canadian National Railway Co. instituted a partial whistle ban in Brockville, Ontario. Trains don’t sound horns at five grade crossings equipped with automatic gates between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily.

In July 2005, CN began sounding train horns 24 hours a day in Brockville after one young girl died and another was seriously injured in a February 2005 crossing accident.

The Class I has applied to Transport Canada to obtain federal funds to improve the crossings, such as by modifying and/or installing pedestrian gates and electronic warning devices. The agency would cover 80 percent of the project’s $800,000 cost; the city and CN would cover 12.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively. A decision on federal funding is expected later this year.

“The new whistling policy achieves a reasonable balance between the company’s vital interest in rail safety and its willingness to try to accommodate the concerns of some Brockville residents who have requested a reduction in train whistling, particularly during night-time hours,” said CN President and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison in a prepared statement.