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Pleasanton residents have been showing up to City Council meetings in recent months imploring the council to prioritize creating a train quiet zone to minimize the disturbance for families living near the railroad tracks in the city.
“At the time we bought our house, there was rarely more than one train a day … that we could live with,” Dan Fellman, a Pleasanton resident whose family has lived one block from the train tracks around downtown for 28 years, said during the public comment portion of the April 8 council meeting.
But as the Altamont Corridor Express opened up its services and added two additional trains in the morning and evening, Fellman said that’s when noise started to become a problem.
“Train noise has been a problem for a long time and it has been getting worse,” he added. “Other cities along the right-of-way have provided relief for their citizens and we believe it is time for Pleasanton to do the same.”
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration, when the rule requiring the routine sounding of train horns at all public highway-rail grade crossings was established, so too was a procedure established for local municipalities to create what’s known as quiet zones.
These quiet zones are designated segments of a rail line with one or more consecutive crossings where train horns aren’t routinely sounded, according to the administration’s website. The zones must meet certain safety requirements and can only be established by a public authority responsible for traffic control or law enforcement at those public crossings.
Horns in these areas can also still be used in emergency situations such as alerting animals, drivers, pedestrians or other trains.
In order to establish these quiet zones, public authorities — in this case the city of Pleasanton — must first mitigate the risks associated with the absence of a train horn.Â
Another resident who spoke up during the April 8 meeting was Jim Lehrman, who also lives near the Union Pacific Railroad train tracks.
“When I got my home in 1999 our Realtors told us, ‘The railroad’s winding down, eventually it’ll become a rails-to-trails project.’ That hasn’t happened,” Lehrman said. “The railroad traffic has only increased over the past 26 years and train noise occurs increasingly louder and around the clock, as my neighbors mentioned.”
He said other residents who don’t live near the tracks, visitors and businesses are also affected by train horns and that a quiet zone would help reduce noise pollution and would improve quality of life.
Lehrman, Fellman and many of the others who have been advocating for the train quiet zone asked the city to find some room in its budget for a necessary feasibility study, which one speaker said is a crucial first step to bring such an ordinance to life.
According to an April 28 Change.org petition, 229 other residents also support the city prioritizing the establishment of a train quiet zone in order to address the growing noise pollution caused by the “increasing number of trains and their loud, disruptive horns”.
“Train noise significantly impacts the quality of life for thousands of residents, downtown businesses, and visitors who live, work, attend school, dine, or enjoy leisure time near the tracks,” according to the online petition. “While we appreciate the benefits of rail connectivity and prioritize safety, we believe Pleasanton can implement solutions that enhance both safety and peace of mind for the community.”
The petition also notes that other Bay Area communities, such as Sunol, Fremont, Emeryville and San Jose have successfully introduced quiet zones — “proving that reduced train noise and enhanced safety can coexist.”Â
“In Pleasanton’s case, lower-cost safety solutions are now available, making it more feasible than ever to achieve this goal,” the petition states.
According to Heather Tiernan, communication manager for the city, the quiet zone project ranked low during the city’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) prioritization process, which is why the project is not included in the upcoming two-year proposed CIP budget for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27.
Tiernan said the most recent estimate, which is shown in the May 20 CIP program document, for hiring a consultant to evaluate the feasibility and cost of implementing railroad quiet zones was approximately $175,000.
“This estimate covers only the feasibility study and planning phase,” Tiernan added. “Based on the study’s findings, the total implementation cost could range from $50,000 to $500,000 or more, depending on the number and characteristics of railroad crossings and the required safety upgrades.”
More than fair: Pleasanton 'grounds generate $312 million in annual economic impactMarch 12, 2026 4:17 pm
When did they put the tracks down?
That number $175,000 is lowball.
The actual cost will be $300,000 +
Reasonable request by residents affected