(The following story by Bob Tita appeared on the Crain’s Chicago Business website on February 28.)
CHICAGO — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean are is demanding a meeting with the CEO of Canadian National Railway Co., E. Hunter Harrison, to discuss the effects of CN’s plan to buy a little-used rail line through the collar counties.
In a letter Thursday to Mr. Harrison, the two Illinois Democrats vowed to oppose the Montreal-based railroad’s acquisition of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway unless Mr. Harrison addresses the senator’s concerns about increasing train traffic through communities such as Mundelein, Barrington, West Chicago and Plainfield.
“Many communities unaccustomed to and ill-equipped to handle freight traffic are facing a fourfold increase” in trains, the letter said. “This increase will cause significant delays on already congested arterial roads in the collar counties.”
There are more than 130 street crossings on the nearly 200-mile rail route from Waukegan to Gary, Ind. A CN spokesman said railroad executives were willing to meet with Mr. Durbin and Ms. Bean. But he declined to comment on whether Mr. Harrison himself would engage in the talks.
“I’m not going to name individuals, but we’re prepared to have senior executives participate,” he said.
Owned by U.S. Steel Corp., the EJ&E has seen limited use for decades. But Canadian National, which agreed to pay $300 million for the line last fall, intends to shift trains to the line from elsewhere in the Chicago area.
The EJ&E’s route arches through the periphery of the Chicago area, allowing trains to avoid congested, slow-moving routes and rail yards in Chicago and close-in suburbs that can add several hours to travel times. CN has applied to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board for approval of the purchase.
The letter also asks Mr. Harrison to address concerns that additional freight trains on the EJ&E would jeopardize Metra’s plan to initiate commuter rail service on 36 miles of the route in the coming years. Mr. Durbin and Ms. Bean also are pushing CN to disclose its plans for tracks through the South Side and in the South Loop, which are used by Amtrak trains, once freight traffic shifts to the EJ&E.
Passenger rail advocates and state transportation officials worry that CN will want to push the entire cost of maintaining the tracks onto cash-strapped Amtrak.