Something stinks: Resident sceptical of Woombye stabling yard rail noise excuses

One of the seemingly-mouldy NGR trains.

by Janine Hill

A WOOMBYE resident has skewered Translink assertions that three-year-old studies clear operations at the rail stabling yard from any lingering noise issues.

James Kasmer and other nearby residents are unhappy about the noise from air-conditioners running all night in Next Generation Rollingstock trains stabled at the Woombye yard, where the trains are cleaned and parked overnight ready for service the next morning.

Mr Kasmer accepts that air-conditioning should run while cleaners are working in the trains but said the noise from NGR air-conditioners running all night effectively turned a residential area into an industrial area.

Translink’s responses to two recent media enquiries have referred to noise studies which liken the rail stable yard noise to normal noise levels. A 21 July Translink statement said independnet noise testing “found that operation of the stabling yard, including the NGR air-conditioning systems, was not a dominant noise source in the local environment and was around normal ambient levels.”

In a 17 August response to further question, Translink provided a statement which said surveys in August and September-October 2020 “confirmed that the outdoor noise environment was primarily influenced by residential activity, local road traffic, natural sources such as birdsong, breeze blown vegetation and trains on the North Coast Line.”

“It was found the noise was not from stowed passenger trains (including train A/C systems).”

Mr Kasmer said the 2020 studies focused on noise between about 6am and 10pm rather than noise overnight, when the air-conditioners were now running.  

He said the noise studies also did not record noise between 10pm and 4am except on one night. Mr Kasmer believes the air-conditioners are being left overnight to control reported mould problems in the NGR.  

“What other plausible reason could there be for TMR and QR to run air-con units through the night when trains are empty of people and sitting in complete darkness?” he asked.   “QR admitted to mould issues on 5 March 2020 publicly on National Nine News in their NGR Trains.

“They led us to believe at the WCBA Meeting with TMR and QR in July 2020 at Red Bridge Motor Inn, that a fix was imminent.  They never stopped running trains at night though. Certainly not a permanent change. In 2023 we have some nights on, some nights off. There is no pattern other than the noise continues on and off.  

“If there is no mould issue now, in 2023, please turn off air-con units at night and residents’ concerns immediately go away.”

Translink has said the air-conditioning is running on optimal settings while the NGR trains are in stabling mode to address humidity in response to complaints about odour on the trains.