---

MANSFIELD - If residents in the north part of town have noticed passing trains blowing their whistles less often, they can thank Steve Passanisi.

Like other Mansfield residents who live near the tracks, Passanisi, 51, says the blaring of train whistles at all hours of the day and night, particularly by Amtrak's high-speed Acela trains, has been getting on his nerves ever since he moved to Howe Street last year.

But unlike other residents, Passanisi decided to take matters into his own hands - and he got results.

Effective last Monday, Amtrak has done away with its longstanding whistle-blowing policy at all MBTA train stations in Massachusetts, The Sun Chronicle has confirmed.

From now on, train engineers are not supposed to whistle when they pass through a station unless there is a specific reason to do so. A spokesman for the MBTA said their engineers will also follow Amtrak's new policy. In an e-mail, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said the MBTA stations' electronic notification systems made the "old whistle notification process redundant, and allows Amtrak to have a consistent application of a notification procedure in place across our territory."

Cole added, "These actions are not a reaction to any particular incident."

Maybe so, but Amtrak's switch follows a months-long effort by Passanisi - a Mansfield native - to convince railroad officials to crack down on unnecessary and excessive whistle-blowing. The problem has been particularly acute for residents of Angell Street, which runs parallel to the train tracks.

"I'm just the type of person that, when I see something that doesn't make sense, I like to fix it," Passanisi said.

"By me monitoring this, I have seen with my own eyes that there really isn't any consistency, or any sense, to what they do," he said. "And that's why I have come forward to find out what the hell is going on."

In the process, Passanisi talked with officials from Amtrak, the MBTA, and even the Federal Railroad Administration. Some officials were helpful, others less so, he said, and he saw numerous inconsistencies in the transit agencies' policies.

Now that the problem seems to be fixed, Passanisi is glad to have made a contribution to the greater good.

"I'm more than happy to donate my time to make Mansfield a better place to live in any way, shape or form that I can," he said.