Calgary Alberta - After continued complaints from residents in nearby Inglewood, Canadian Pacific has been asked to come up with a solution to reduce noise from locomotives at its Alyth yard within 30 days.
 
The rail company, however, insists it is already in compliance.
 
In a decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency last summer, CP was told to not conduct any load testing, a noisy procedure that checks the safety of locomotive engines, in certain locations late at night.
 
But noise complaints continued to come forward, suggesting that load-testing was still occurring in locations where it was not allowed, namely the locomotive reliability centre.
 
According to a release issued this week by the federal government's transportation agency, "CP has continued to load test locomotives and to park idling locomotives around the LRC between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m."
 
As a result, CP has been asked to submit a report within a month detailing its own solution to reduce noise.
 
"They need to come to us within 30 days with an application outlining how relocating load-testing will not cause unreasonable noise and vibration regarding the community," said Jacqueline Bannister, spokeswoman for the Canadian Transportation Agency.
 
Coun. Gian Carlo Carra said noise from CP's Alyth yard has become a significant problem since 2010, once the economy recovered from the 2008 recession.
 
Before that, CP operations were relatively unnoticeable, he said.
 
But once the markets recovered, so did business at CP, resulting in increased traffic at the Alyth yard.
 
Carra said noise from idling and load testing is at times unbearable.
 
"It's extremely loud. It's like putting your ear to a speaker during a rock concert."
 
Carra recalled coming out of a meeting at the community centre a few hundreds metres from the Alyth yard, when he found himself having to yell at people he was talking to.
 
"I suddenly realized, why am I yelling? And then I see that houses around us are literally shaking from the noise."
 
Lara Murphy, an Inglewood resident whose house is just 200 metres from the yards, said noise continues through the late-night hours, and continues to be unbearable.
 
"It's just gotten so bad in recent years, the noise would blow your hair back," she said.
 
"We're not being unreasonable. We just want to be able to sleep at night."
 
The transportation agency order for a new solution within 30 days comes just after CP's decision last fall to shut down its locomotive reliability centre in Calgary, a move that would mean the elimination of 130 jobs.
 
In a September news release, the company said the decision was the result of the transportation agency order telling the railway to immediately cease "load testing" and idling operations near the locomotive centre overnight.
 
"This order poses productivity challenges for service and maintenance work of locomotives during this ordered time," the news release said.
 
"The CTA order fails to recognize the 24-7 operational requirements and restricts the railway's ability to provide service for customers in Calgary, throughout North America, and those relying on coastal ports for offshore shipments."
 
Locomotive repair and maintenance work could then be transferred to other CP facilities, it said.
 
Canadian Pacific spokesman Ed Greenberg is adamant that CP has been in compliance with the order and that it does not load-test at night.
 
He explained that residents may be confusing that with other rail yard noises at night.
 
Greenberg added that CP is still in the process of relocating its locomotive reliability centre and will respond to the agency within the 30-day period, advising the agency it has not been performing load testing between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
 
"This is a very complex situation, and we have been in compliance around load-testing," he said.
 
Eva Ferguson.