Train horns and quiet zones Guide 24
How the train activity number works
How we turn the train counts railroads report within 1 mile of an address into one number from 0 to 100, and what each band means. This guide explains the inputs, the distance weights, the curve and the bands behind the train activity number.
For anyone reading the train activity number for an address.
What goes into the train activity number?
One number from 0 to 100 for the trains that pass near an address, built from the train counts railroads report to the Federal Railroad Administration.
Trains a day at a crossing are the day, night and switching trains the railroad reports for it. Only public crossings count, and only those within 1 mile of the point, measured in a straight line.
We add the trains a day at public crossings within 1 mile. A crossing within a quarter mile counts in full, and its weight falls to zero at 1 mile. Only the busiest weighted crossing counts, so one train is not counted again at each crossing on its line.
We add the horn soundings a night from crossings within half a mile, using the number halfway between the low and high estimates.
The total becomes a number from 0 to 100 on one curve. Higher means more trains near the address, not better or worse.
Sources: FRA: crossing inventory reporting; FRA: Train Horns and Quiet Zones.
How does distance change the count?
A crossing within a quarter mile counts in full. Beyond a quarter mile, its weight falls in a straight line to zero at 1 mile. Its weighted trains a day are its weight times its trains a day.
For now, only the single busiest weighted crossing within 1 mile counts. A point between two separate rail lines counts only the busier one.
| Distance | Weight |
|---|---|
| Up to 0.25 mile | 1 (full) |
| 0.5 mile | 2/3 |
| 0.75 mile | 1/3 |
| 1 mile | 0 |
How is the night horn estimate added?
The night horn estimate is the one on the home check: horn soundings a night, 6 pm to 6 am, from public crossings within half a mile. A train sounds its horn at each crossing it passes, so here every crossing counts.
Crossings in a 24-hour quiet zone or with the Chicago-area horn exemption add no soundings. At a crossing in a partial quiet zone, or one with no quiet zone entry, the soundings could go either way, so the number adds half of them.
Sources: FRA: Train Horns and Quiet Zones.
How does the total become a number from 0 to 100?
We add the weighted trains a day and the horn soundings a night, using the number halfway between the low and high horn estimates. The number is 100 times the log of 1 plus that total, divided by the log of 111, rounded to a whole number. A total of 110 or more reads 100.
On this curve each step up takes more trains than the one before, so a busy main line and a very busy one still read differently. We set 110 in October 2026 from a 2% sample of public crossings: the total at 98 in 100 of them is 110 or less.
| Weighted trains a day plus night horn soundings | Number |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 51 |
| 20 | 65 |
| 40 | 79 |
| 80 | 93 |
| 120 | 100 |
What do the bands say?
Each band has a name and one plain line that says how much train activity is counted within 1 mile. The line holds for every number in its band, so it says how much, not how many trains, and never quotes the total. The page shows the exact figures on their own lines: the trains a day nearby, with closer ones counted more, and the night horn estimate. The lines describe trains, not what the number means for a home.
| Number | Band | What the line says |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | No trains counted | No trains are counted within 1 mile. |
| 1 to 19 | Very light | Little train activity is counted within 1 mile. |
| 20 to 39 | Light | Some train activity is counted within 1 mile. |
| 40 to 59 | Moderate | A moderate amount of train activity is counted within 1 mile. |
| 60 to 79 | Busy | A lot of train activity is counted within 1 mile. |
| 80 to 100 | Very busy | A great deal of train activity is counted within 1 mile. |
What is left out of the number?
Public crossings with no train count are left out, and the page says how many there are within 1 mile. Private crossings are left out.
Rail lines on bridges or in tunnels do not meet a road at the same level, so they have no crossing in the count. Trains that pass no public crossing within 1 mile are not counted either.
How old are the train counts?
Railroads report train counts to the Federal Railroad Administration, and some counts are years old. The page lists the count years of the crossings it used, and says so when the oldest is more than 5 years older than the data.
The number is never adjusted for the age of a count. Every answer names the date of the inventory it used and the method version.
Sources: FRA: crossing inventory reporting.
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