A PENSIONER who has lived happily near a railway line for more than 60 years now only gets six hours of peace and quiet a day.

Frances Gulliford, 87, who has lived near Swaythling station for 66 years says life has become almost intolerable since the new changes which see the first warning horn blasted at 6am and the last at midnight. 

The pensioner who lives with her her 53-year-old disabled son Alan, says she is unable to escape the deafening sounds of the train horns.

New procedures, put in place by Network Rail, have seen the introduction of a higher pitched train horn and requirement to sound the horns more following number of near misses and a fatality on the line.

"They start at 6am and don't finish until midnight - sounding around four times an hour," Mrs Gulliford said.

"I don't get out very much, I have just had a hip replacement so can't get around very well. I am trapped listening to it all day. We only get six hours a day of peace and quiet.

"It is affecting my quality of life. My son is going out of his mind from it. He has to go out to get away from it.

"I can hear them all the time, the horn is so loud...Come the summer when we have our windows open it will be worse."

Mrs Gulliford said they knew nothing about the changes until the new regime was put in place.

"It didn't bother us before, we didn't take any notice but now they have put it up to the highest decibel.

"It is getting on my neighbours' nerves as well.

"They should have asked the residents first before making the changes. If it was rail works and it was only going to go on for two or three weeks it wouldn't matter because we would know it was going to stop but this is going to be a permanent thing."

A leaflet released to residents confirmed the volume and frequency had been changed between 6am and 7am and 11pm and 12am. Although it had not been changed in the day. Before the changes the horn would only be sounded between 7am and 11pm.

Although a Stagecoach Group spokesman said South West Trains had only used a higher pitched horn for one week in November.

Mark Brunnen, head of level crossings at Network Rail, said: "We fully appreciate this change will impact some of our neighbours, but the safety of those using our level crossings must remain our top priority."

He added they were spending £100 million on improving level crossing safety, closing over 1,000 in the last six years.

Mr Brunnen said: "Trains are required to sound their horns on the approach to some level crossings, but not overnight, unless someone is spotted on or near the track.

"The changes we’ve made mean trains will be required to sound their horns briefly on approach for an extra hour at the beginning and end of the day, as evidence suggests more and more people are using crossings at these times."

Anyone wanting to discuss the changes should call Network Rail on 03457 114141.