“How am I supposed to work tomorrow is beyond me.”
That’s how one Guelph resident feels about the late night trains travelling through her neighbourhood.
Residents have taken to social media to complain about the blaring of horns in the middle of the night.
They say this has happened several times over the last week and the horns continue through the night from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.
“We can’t live like this,” said one resident on Twitter.
“I’m a teacher,” said another. “My students have noticed that I have no energy this last week and no tolerance for noise. Today I described it as being put in a sleep-deprivation torture chamber with continuous noise. It is making working very, very difficult.”
Mayor Cam Guthrie says he spoke to representatives from CN Rail on Monday.
Afterwards he voiced his frustrations on Twitter, saying "I didn't get the answers I really wanted. I'm very disappointed."
Guthrie says CN gave him no timeline for when the train activity would end.
"I don't see this being resolved any time soon which is extremely disappointing."
Phil Allt, the councillor for Ward 3, tweeted Monday morning that: “This will not be an easy fix. The city has limited jurisdiction.”
After CN received numerous messages from both politicians and the public they issued the following statement to CTV.
"CN apologizes to residents for the inconveniences and will continue to engage with the City and review its operations in order to mitigate as much as possible frustrations by local residents and the City.
In late 2018, CN resumed control of operations in Guelph after a lease held by the Goderich Exeter Railway (GEXR) expired. During this transition, CN remains in communication with the City of Guelph with respect to changes in operations and to better understand the concerns of the City. Unfortunately, the rail infrastructure inherited by CN requires significant investment for safety and efficiency purposes. CN has begun making investments this year and will continue to invest in safety through 2020. These investments will address many of the issues leading to current frustrations.
Going forward, we will make sure to notify the City of any planned changes in our operations that might have an impact on the residents."
Allt says the railway is working on a fix and "it will requite cooperation with the city."
He also tweeted that there are "loads of issues with the line."
Mike Schreiner, the Guelph MPP and Ontario Green Party Leader, also reached out to CN.
"The voices and calls from Guelph have convinced them to work quickly," he tweeted. "We should hear an update soon on how long with work will take."
