Local Ordinances Aren't Enforceable

Council sees fines as way to keep track of trains Norfolk Southern says Bangor doesn't have jurisdiction. Railroad says feds are regulators. Wednesday, December 12, 2007 By DOUGLAS B. BRILLThe Express-Times BANGOR With increased fines, borough council will tell Norfolk Southern, "Not so fast." The railroad company might tell the borough the same. Council on Monday hiked the fine for trains speeding through the borough's two railroad crossings. The charge for any train speeding across Erdman Avenue or South Main Street is now $500 instead of $25. The borough said it can limit the speed of trains at railroad crossings and has since 1971. But a spokesman for the railroad company said the railways are regulated federally. "They can't" regulate the speed of trains, spokesman Rudy Husband said of local governments. He said the Federal Railroad Administration regulates the trains. "The local ordinances that affect interstate commerce have no enforceability," he said. A Federal Railroad Administration spokesperson could not be reached for comment. Bangor police have clocked trains crossing borough roads at more than 20 mph, police Chief Glenn Kerrigan said. The borough allows trains to cross at 8 mph. Kerrigan said Norfolk Southern is "not being uncooperative with us. They just need to slow down." As to whether the borough can limit the speed of trains, he said, "You're crossing my roadway." Police can use a stopwatch to time the trains, he said. While police can't pull a train over, he said, they can mail a citation to the rail company. Trains travel through the borough most often at night, likely on their way to the Portland Generating Station with coal, borough council President Marino Saveri said. He said council increased fines in response to residents' complaints. Duane Miller, owner of Miller's Paint and Wallpaper, which is near the Erdman Avenue crossing, said he was among those who complained. "The trains are coming through so fast we're afraid someone is going to get killed," he said. Complicating matters, he said, is a signaling system that goes off when no train is on its way. Drivers have caught onto this, he said, and cross the rail lines even when the blinking lights tell them not to. "If anyone is observing down here," he said, "they know it's not safe." Reporter Douglas B. Brill can be reached at 610-759-0508 or by e-mail at dbrill@express-times.com.