(The following story by Lorene Yue appeared on Crain’s Chicago Business website on March 10.)
CHICAGO — Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) told key Illinois lawmakers that it won’t leave Amtrak holding the bag to maintain tracks CN shares with the cash-strapped passenger rail system if it purchases the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway.
The maintenance of the jointly used rail lines are just one of the sticky patches threatening to derail CN’s desire to purchase the EJ&E line from U.S. Steel Corp. CN wants to purchase the 198-mile bypass from Waukegan to Gary, Ind., to move freight faster through the area.
“To remove any uncertainty for Amtrak about the maintenance costs for which they would be responsible after CN ceases freight operations on the line, I agreed during our meeting to cap the costs to Amtrak for maintaining this line at the current level, indexed for inflation in future years,” E. Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer, wrote in a letter to U.S Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Barrington).
The letter, dated March 7 and released Monday, followed last week’s meeting between Messrs. Harrison and Durbin regarding CN’s desire to purchase the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway. Copies of the letter were also delivered to Phil Pagano, executive director for Metra, and Alex Kummant, president and CEO of Amtrak.
“Amtrak is considering its response to CN’s position, which would first be provided directly to CN,” an Amtrak spokesman said. “We would like to thank Sen. Durbin and Congresswoman Bean in their great interest in our service and their work to make certain Amtrak trains are considered, along with other factors, in the EJ&E transaction.”
The tracks and bridges that would require maintenance run along the lakefront and South Loop.
The proposal also has drawn multiple complaints from communities along the EJ&E line that don’t want more trains coming through their neighborhoods.
CN’s acquisition proposal is still being considered by the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency which must approve the deal.