Montreal Quebec - Charles Guerin knows that living within eyesight of train tracks means dealing with a bit of noise, but said the last few months have been intolerable.
 
"We'd like to be able to sleep, that's our main complaint," the Cote-St-Luc resident told the Montreal Gazette.
 
Guerin lives on Merrimac Road, near the entrance to the Canadian Pacific Railway St. Luc rail yards, one of the largest in the country.
 
He moved in seven years ago, and said he always expected to hear some noise, but in the last seven months, operations in the rail yard have changed to the point that there is constant ringing, banging of trains together, and trains idling, often in the early hours of the day.
 
"Around October, they seem to have changed something. Increased the number of trains incredibly. From two in the morning to five in the morning, sometimes it's just back to back and it's driving people nuts. Some people who have lived here 50 years have never seen anything quite like it," he said.
 
He said it's not just a noise issue, because his house also shakes from the vibrations of trains going by or when they are banging into each other.
 
Marla Pinsler, who grew up in Cote-St-Luc near the tracks and moved to the same street four years ago, agrees she never noticed the trains as much as she has in the last few months.
 
She said CP should do a better job of managing the work that is done in the yards in the early morning hours.
 
She pointed out that there was once a train sitting with an idling engine for more than 24 hours.
 
Residents have asked the company to rearrange its operations, or to install a sound wall, or plant more trees or vegetation to muffle the noise, all to no avail.
 
"It's really about a tweaking and a small investment from a multi-billion dollar corporation who has not heard us or offered to help in any way," Pinsler said.
 
Guerin said in the past, CP was more co-operative, as he was able to meet with a station manager back in 2016, and the schedule in the yards was altered to give residents more peace at night.
 
One of the biggest irritants for him has been that trains idle for 20 minutes because they have to stop at that spot in order for the conductor to get out and manually move one of the switches so the train can change tracks.
 
This isn't a problem during the day because there is a person on site who changes the switches before the trains arrive.
 
"So we have been asking them to install radio-controlled, or remote controlled technology to change the switches. That would make a big difference, because when the trains stop, they idle for about 20 minutes while the switch is changed, and then the next train arrives a half hour later, and they do it all over again," Guerin said.
 
Longtime Cote-St-Luc councillor Dida Berku said she is alarmed by the increase in noise from the tracks, which surround the municipality.
 
While many residents have complained, Berku said the greatest problem appears to be on Merrimac, where Guerin lives, and across the tracks on Baily Road.
 
"That corridor is extremely noisy. There is a standard that people have gotten used to over the years, but this is way beyond. We encouraged the residents to track their complaints," she said.
 
She said the municipality met a few months ago with CP officials, accompanied by city manager Jonathan Shecter, Mayor Mitchell Brownstein, and MP Anthony Housefather, but there has been no noticeable change.
 
The city is now entering a mediation process with CP and a third-party mediator, Berku said, but she is frustrated with the company's response so far.
 
She said Transport Canada can investigate, but only after the city has attempted a mediation process.
 
She said, however, the burden is on the residents to demonstrate that there has been a significant change in the noise emanating from the tracks.
 
"CP told us that nothing has changed with their operations, and we know something has changed. We know the trains are longer, they're heavier, they're more frequent. We know this. I have residents who have been living there for 30 years, and they say it's definitely much worse," Berku said.
 
Berku said she is concerned if there is no resolution to this issue, the noise problem will continue to worsen for years to come.
 
Speaking for CP, Stacy Patenaude did not answer when asked why there appears to be more noise stemming from the tracks in recent months.
 
"CP's St. Luc Yard is an active rail yard that CP must operate 24 hours a day as part of a complex and interconnected rail network throughout North America. We limit train noise to only such noise that is necessary to serve our customers and operate an essential transportation service for Canada's economy," Patenaude said.
 
Jason Magder.