Train and rail noise in Los Angeles

Modeled estimates for general information only — not measurements, not a guarantee, and not for legal, medical or real-estate decisions.

Quiet LA models train noise on the Ventura and Valley main lines in the San Fernando Valley. It covers Metrolink, Amtrak and Union Pacific freight trains. Light rail and other lines are not included yet.

See train noise on the map

How Quiet LA models train and rail noise

Train sound is calculated with the CNOSSOS-EU railway method, using US locomotives and cars matched to the Federal Transit Administration’s reference levels. It is added to the road levels where it is modeled, in every view: Day, Evening, Night and 24 h.

The model uses the same ground, terrain and buildings as the road layer. Horn blasts before public grade crossings are part of the calculation, using a generic locomotive horn.

What drives train noise in the model

• Number of trains. Passenger train counts per period come from published Metrolink and Amtrak schedules. Freight counts come from federal crossing counts (the Federal Railroad Administration’s crossing inventory).
• Speed. Passenger trains slow into stations. Freight trains run at a constant speed in the model.
• Train type. Locomotives and cars are US types matched to FTA reference levels.
• Horns at crossings. Horns are loud and brief, so they matter near crossings.
• Distance, ground and buildings. The same factors as for roads. See freeway and road noise.

What the rail layer does not show

• Metro light rail and subway lines, and other lines outside the Ventura and Valley main lines.
• The actual night a freight train passes. Freight is an average spread evenly over 24 hours, so one loud night-time train does not appear as such.
• Rail yards and sidings.
• Weather on any given day. Results use typical conditions.

How accurate is the rail layer?

The rail layer has had much less checking against measurements than the road and aircraft layers, and there are no train monitors to compare it with. Treat it as a careful estimate of broad exposure, not of any single train. Passenger counts come from a single week of published schedules.

See Limits, How it’s made and Sources & methods.

Train horns: what federal rules say

Federal rules and the Metrolink page checked on 13 October 2026.

Federal rules require a train to sound its horn when approaching a public highway-rail crossing, with exceptions such as quiet zones. The horn must begin at least 15 seconds, and no more than 20 seconds, before the locomotive enters the crossing, in a pattern of two long blasts, one short and one long.

A locomotive horn must produce between 96 and 110 dB(A) at 100 feet in front of the locomotive.

Metrolink says railroads must sound horns unless the crossing is grade separated or in a quiet zone. A quiet zone is created when a city requests it from the Federal Railroad Administration, makes the required improvements and accepts liability. Metrolink cannot create or approve one.

Who to contact about train noise

For a Metrolink train, use Metrolink’s contact page. For a freight or Amtrak train, contact the railroad that operates it. For a quiet zone at a crossing, contact your city. Other noise sources have other contacts. See who to call about noise in Los Angeles.