Midland residents fed up by noise caused by a new Metronet railway crossing are calling on the transport minister to intervene.
They say the bright lights and loud bells in the early hours of the morning could be blocked out with window treatments and sound proofing.
The new Cale Street crossing replaces the old Helena Street rail crossing less than 500 metres away. It closed to make way for the new Midland Train Station.
Due to the built-up area and land constraints around Cale Street, through which passenger and freight trains pass, a new level crossing was the most feasible solution to maintain north-south access to the town centre, according to the Public Transport Authority.
It improved traffic flow and connectivity across the rail corridor into the town centre.
But since the Cale Street level crossing opened six weeks ago Aaron Cooper has suffered night after night of interrupted sleep.
The bright lights and bells at the crossing go off less than 50 metres from his Midland home as freight trains snake their way past in the early hours of the morning.
Cooper asked for sound proofing before the new crossing opened.
“Just simple blockout blinds inside and double glazing that would then give the people an option to roll down the blinds and close the windows and get rid of that noise and light pollution,” he said.
Despite his repeated complaints, a noise measuring meter was only recently installed and is yet to be reviewed.
The Public Transport Authority has told residents noise testing will be carried out again at 18 months. But a suitable noise mitigation measure, if required, won’t be implemented until that monitoring has taken place.
“For us to wait three months to 18 months ... this should already have been done. They should already understand the impacts on people,” Cooper said.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said she regretted what was going on and apologised for the disruption.
Prior to the opening business owner Kevin Bartholomew said local residents were very concerned that there would be major incidents on the busy intersection.
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