The Sounds of Charlotte's Light Rail System

I remember there was much back and forth among the locals as to whether it was truly needed, if the escalating costs of building it would be worth it, etc. But build it they did, with passengers being able to take advantage of the Lynx Blue Line beginning in late 2007. If my memory serves me correctly, this first line mainly benefited uptown and south side residents, but it would later be expanded to the university (UNC-Charlotte) area.

Mom and I live about five minutes from one of the light rail stations. 99 percent of the time, if I have an errand to run, I have to travel over at least one set of the tracks, with the train's arrival - complete with the horns sounding and crossing arms lowering - periodically slowing travelers down momentarily as it drops off existing passengers and loads the next round before going on its way. 

My dad was a train lover and often talked of wanting to ride on the light rail at least once. But by the time it got to our neck of the woods, his mobility challenges were at a point that doing so wasn't really an option anymore. And even had he still been able to, I would have urged against it because there were some stops along its route that were a little sketchy, and Mom and Dad were both senior citizens with health issues at that point.

Dad understood, but there were many nights when I'd be at their house for a visit where, when it was quiet, we'd sometimes hear the light rail train go by off in the distance, its horns sounding softly in the night air as it took passengers to their destinations.

"There it goes," he would often say with a smile.

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Ever since we lost Dad in June of 2022, whether I'm at home and hear the train or I'm at the tracks, I think about him, and a brief moment of sadness washes over me at the thought of him never getting the chance to ride it.

But since August 22, 2025, another type of sadness has washed over me every time I hear or see the train, as I wonder if the sounds I hear the train make were the ones Iryna Zarutska heard it make every time she had to take it to go home from her job at a local pizzeria, including the fateful night she never made it home.

Though I haven't watched the full video that was released of the crime, one thing I have seen from it is the look of terror on her face as she crouched and looked at her alleged killer. Soon after the knife attack, she would be dead, with no one on the train coming to help her until nearly two minutes after she was assaulted, when it was probably too late to save her.

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Something else that haunts me about what happened to her is that her family has said she was studying to get better at her English-speaking skills because she had an appointment in October to get her driver's license.

Yep, she was just two months away from probably being able to drive herself to and from work.

It's all so unbelievably senseless, and it has really shaken Charlotte to its foundations. Vigils are still being held, and accountability and change are still being demanded. This issue isn't going to go away anytime in the near future.

An emotional hour as people prayed and paid tribute to Iryna Zarutska. Today marks one month since her fatal stabbing. Many people stopped their runs or walks on the Rail Trail to join in the vigil @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/1OTsvmOvad

— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) September 23, 2025

There will one day be justice for Iryna and her family, and hopefully, the system she trusted to get her home will soon be safer for the next person who boards it.

But it shouldn't have had to come to this. She should still be here. 

I sure wish Iryna were alive today to hear those sounds and to live the dreams she had when she fled Ukraine for a better life in America.  

RIP, Iryna. We won't forget you.