Protect neighborhoods, demand accountability, and push for regulatory and/or legal intervention

Citizens Against Destruction of Their Homes by Canadian Railway

Several times each night, I’m awoken as my bed begins to shake violently. It’s not just the bed. The entire floor trembles, and with it, my whole house shakes as if we’re in an earthquake. This isn’t a natural disaster, it’s the result of massive Canadian National Railway (CN) freight trains barreling through Crossing #260 515D on IL Route 59 (Hough Street) at high speed. My house sits just 400 feet from the tracks, and the ground vibrations are unbearable. This level of noise and vibration is not something anyone should have to live with.

Arthur R. — Local Resident

The rattling of my windows drives my dog crazy, causing him to be anxious and agitated, barking, etc. Also causing my dishes to shake, which are heirlooms passed down for generations.

Eric T. — Local Resident

The vibration from the trains is driving me crazy. The china rattles in the kitchen cabinets, and the entire house shakes. It’s especially bad at night when everything is quiet until a train passes by, and then my bed, along with the whole house, start to rattle. It makes it impossible to fall asleep.

Ian V. — Local Resident

CN is Destroying Our Community

Destruction To Our Homes

Example of damage to homes cased by excessive vibration and noise at a grade-level crossing between CN and Metra’s UP-Northwest Line where two railroads intersect, just West of CN Crossing #260 515D at IL Route 59 (Hough St), Barrington, Illinois.

Destruction To Our Businesses

Example of damage to businesses cased by excessive vibration and noise at a grade-level crossing between CN and Metra’s UP-Northwest Line where two railroads intersect, just West of CN Crossing #260 515D at IL Route 59 (Hough St), Barrington, Illinois.

Destruction To Our Infrastructure

Example of damage to Village infrastructure cased by excessive vibration and noise at a grade-level crossing between CN and Metra’s UP-Northwest Line where two railroads intersect, just West of CN Crossing #260 515D at IL Route 59 (Hough St), Barrington, Illinois.

Not an Ordinary Crossing

This specific location is not an ordinary crossing. It is a rare and dangerous convergence point where CN’s freight rail line intersects with Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest Line, creating intense ground vibration when high-speed trains pass through.

This vibration:

Shakes homes, beds, and cabinets.
Cracks foundations, walls, and porches.
Disrupts the lives of residents and damages local businesses.
Forces families to leave the community they once loved.

The current FRA-approved speed limit of 45 mph is unsafe and incompatible with the residential and rail-interchange character of this neighborhood. The current FRA-approved speed limit of 45 mph is unsafe and incompatible with the residential and rail-interchange character of this location.

We demand an immediate Joint Railroad Mitigation Plan (CN + Metra) to be implemented near the crossing #260 515D on IL Route 59 (Hough Street) in Barrington, IL.

Sign Online Petition

Noise and excessive ground vibration from heavy high-speed train traffic is damaging nearby homes, businesses, and community wellbeing. We request immediate intervention.

What’s happening in Barrington is not just a nuisance. It is a public infrastructure failure and a livability crisis.

We are calling on CN and Metra’s UP-Northwest Line, as well as the Federal Railroad Administration, to act swiftly, before further damage is done to our homes, our community, and our health.

Beyond the broken walls and sinking foundations lies a human crisis that no photograph can ever capture. Every night, families are jolted awake by the deafening roar of freight trains, their homes shaking so violently it feels like the ground is giving way beneath them. Children cry, dogs bark, parents lie awake in fear, and entire households brace themselves for the next tremor. Sleep, something so basic, so essential—has become a luxury.

This relentless assault is wearing people down. Day after day, residents push through exhaustion, trying to function at work, at school, and in everyday life. Many feel trapped in homes they once cherished, homes that now feel unsafe, unstable, and unlivable. Some are too embarrassed to invite friends over, afraid the shaking will expose just how bad things have become.

These aren’t minor inconveniences. They are deep emotional wounds that grow heavier with every sleepless night. The toll is real: the stress, the fear, the fatigue, the slow erosion of what makes a home a sanctuary.

No community should have to live like this.

We need help. We need compassion. We need action.

Every voice that speaks up, every person who listens, every leader who steps forward brings us one step closer to restoring peace, safety, and dignity to the families who are suffering.

This is not just a problem, it’s a call to stand with a community in crisis. And together, we can bring relief, stability, and hope back to the people who desperately need it.

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