3 September 2004 Whistle Study Approved Maple Ridge will pursue an application seeking an outright ban on train whistles.   Council decided Tuesday to go ahead with plans for the first step of the train whistle ban process by commissioning a necessary study of eight controlled crossings in the community.   The purpose of the study is to examine the crossings to determine if trains would still, without using whistles, be able to pass safely without endangering the public.   However, council voted unanimously not to draw the estimated $32,000 needed to pay for the study from its accumulated surplus, in favour of rolling the study into the 2005 budget.   That means there is no timeline for when the study will get underway, whereas the needed funds could have been pulled immediately from surplus reserves.   "This will take time," said Mayor Kathy Morse, of seeing the train ban application to CP Rail and Transport Canada though.   Once the safety study is finished, its findings will be forwarded to the national rail line and from there final approval will come from the federal government.   Coun. Judy Dueck asked whether this study could look at only some of the controlled crossings, and if it would be cheaper to go that route.   Morse replied, however, that a piecemeal approach won't pay off in the end.   "It's much cheaper to look at all of them than just some," Morse said.   Other municipalities that have successfully had train whistles silences include Pitt Meadows and the City of Langley, however both took long periods to get approval.