Residents between Alexandria and Fredericksburg have gotten an unwelcome wake up call in the early morning hours this week.
CSX crews have been replacing railroad ties at night to cut back on delays to commuter services, like the Virginia Railway Express, during the day. Unfortunately, CSX freight trains running on the tracks at night sound their horns to warn workers to clear the area, said a CSX official in a letter.
“As the maintenance team numbers in excess of 40 persons and is spread over approximately five miles, the warnings are quite frequent and cover an unusually large area,” said Jay Westbrook in his letter. The crews move quickly — nearly two miles per night — and will only disturb neighborhoods briefly, he said. The replacement work has been north to Alexandria and should be completed by today, said Bob Sullivan, a CSX spokesman. Next week the crews begin replacing ties in Milford and head north to Fredericksburg, he said.
The crew replaced more than 2,100 ties Tuesday night, said VRE spokesman Mark Roeber, who added last year’s daytime tie replacement caused many problems, forcing the work to night hours.
“Nobody wants to be blowing horns to the point where you are disrupting a community … but at the same token, I certainly think it is an acceptable practice to ensure the safety of the worker on the tracks,” he said.
