7 Investigates: Nonstop noise

The peace Paul Bellos and Chelsea McQuaid once felt in their Haverhill home is derailed The couple announced the noise from trains just behind their house has reached intolerable levels It literally just surrounds you There is no escape from it McQuaid announced The best way I can explain it is if you ve ever been to any concert when you hear the low bass the reverb coming out Bellos explained That s what it is in the house and there is no way to stop it and it just vibrates at that low frequency consistently The couple noted the pitch from the trains shakes their house and rattles their patience The Bradford train station sits just beyond the couple s backyard After the train is gone I truly still feel a vibration Bellos explained My ears ringing is when I mentioned enough Research shows repeated exposure to high decibels can cause hearing loss So Bellos started tracking the noise with a decibel reader Over the last two months he s tracked levels that are equivalent to the sound of a hairdryer to a low chainsaw He says the noise can blare for - minutes a cycle that repeats from around am to am I don t get to bed until am because my ears are ringing so loud and I get so frustrated trying to relax Bellos mentioned McQuaid and Bellos acknowledge they chose to live near the tracks but mentioned the noise was never this loud for the first three years Yes we moved near a train station but we chose the house because even though the train station was right there it was still at a lower level McQuaid noted They had just replaced the greater part of the windows and stuff to block out the noise so it wasn t supposed to be a matter But now it is They believe part of the difficulty lies with the construction of a new apartment complex across the tracks that is bouncing the sound back toward their house Other neighbors agree Even sitting in the living room you can feel the house shaking and I don t recall noticing that before that building went up disclosed John Hogan another resident who lives by the tracks It sounds like a deep rumble it in fact vibrates the house Keolis the company that operates the MBTA commuter trains insists that the noise isn t coming from anything new The MBTA Commuter Rail group prioritizes the continuity of safe operations and the protection of assets while minimizing the impact on neighboring communities whenever accomplishable While idling is a necessary part of the safe and reliable operation of Commuter Rail organization we are committed to keeping residents informed a Keolis spokesperson explained Investigates The Bradford station also serves as a layover site which means trains park there idle there and get serviced there during off hours This also means more noise is created When trains are in an MBTA layover facility Commuter Rail crews must perform federally mandated tests and safety inspections that require trains to idle This is a crucial step to ensuring safe and reliable facility a spokesperson for Keolis explained Neighbors and city leaders believe that the only real way to eliminate the noise is to move the facility We ve talked about sound impediments in the past but ultimately just move them you know is the real answer noted Haverhill mayor Melinda Barrett Barrett has been working with residents and Keolis to mitigate the noise at the station for years Over the years a lot of people have tried to move the needle I think we ve moved it a little bit and we ll stay vigilant in putting our efforts towards reminding them to be good neighbors if a approach is still a tactics away Barrett revealed The long-term response of moving the layover site is definitely a plan MBTA started to put into motion years ago The MBTA reported Investigates it spent million to buy land and start planning for a new layover facility but doesn t have any more money to authentically build it I m hopeful that is the ultimate move Barrett reported It would be much better much improved In the meantime Barrett stated the city is doing what it can to address residents complaints She has directed the police officers to monitor the noise around the station I work with our police force to try to work with the guys in the yard the maintainers to let them know to be considerate they have neighbors very close and work it that way she explained She recommends that residents reach out to her office and the police with noise complaints We usually at least try she noted We ve had fan complaints a lot this year and I think we ve been pretty responsive and Keolis has been responsive in those cases Bellos noted he s reached out to local and state leaders but still the noise continues I have had a lot of gratification sucked out of me from this Bellos declared Bellos and McQuaid mentioned they d be fine with the level of noise going back to what it was a year ago They hope their voices can be heard above the noise sooner rather than later Just be quieter that s ultimately what we want just be quieter McQuaid announced