(The following story appeared at RailwayAge:Rail Group News on December 3, 2008)
CHICAGO, Il – Earlier commitments made by Canadian National are embodied in an agreement announced Wednesday that will ensure Amtrak’s continued access to the St. Charles Air Line route for its trains between Union Station in Chicago and downstate Illinois destinations, including Carbondale and Champaign.
The agreement is part of CN’s continuing effort to ease concerns about its proposed acquisition of the principal lines of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern, to which it would divert some of the freight traffic that now moves through Chicago. The agreement also provides for CN to continue to maintain the route used by Amtrak.
CN is urging the Surface Transportation Board to reach a final decision on its proposal so that the transaction can close by the Dec. 31 deadline set by the parties to the purchase agreement. “We hope that the resolution of Amtrak’s concerns will help the STB expedite its overall review to that end,” said CN’s president and CEO, E. Hunter Harrison.