(The following story by Guy Tridgell appeared on the Daily Southtown Star website on September 7.)
CHICAGO — One of the hottest issues in the Southland these days involves one of the oldest modes of transportation.
Trains.
In October, the Canadian National Railway filed paperwork with the U.S. Department of Transportation asking to acquire the EJ&E Railroad for about $300 million. The historic rail line runs along the outskirts of the Chicago area, cutting through towns such as Chicago Heights, Park Forest, Matteson, Frankfort and New Lenox in the Southland.
The issue has pitted the far-flung suburbs, which fear the pains that will come with more traffic on the EJ&E tracks, versus older communities that stand to see less train traffic on Canadian National’s existing lines.
At SouthtownStar.com/railroaddeal, we’ve compiled a Web site with all things about the deal, including maps, key federal documents, academic studies and past SouthtownStar articles.
Before you visit, we put together a primer in a question-and-answer format to introduce you to the players and tell you about what’s next.
Q. What is the Canadian National Railway? And what is the EJ&E Railroad?
A. Canadian National, or CN, is one of the country’s seven biggest freight haulers. The railroad generates about $8 billion in revenue annually, pulling down some $2 billion in profit. While CN is based in Montreal, the company points out that almost half of its stock is in American hands – with Microsoft chairman Bill Gates as the largest shareholder. Its U.S. headquarters are in Homewood.
The EJ&E is owned by U.S. Steel. The line has been around a long time, since 1891. It bustled when the steel mills roared in boom towns such as Gary and Joliet, but it’s a shadow of its former self. Today, on most of its 198-mile arc around the region, the EJ&E carries no more than 10 trains a day.
Check out the EJ&E map at SouthtownStar.com/railroaddeal.com.
Q. What does CN want with an old set of tracks anyway?
A. CN operates five lines radiating from Chicago. They have become too crowded. Long the busiest rail gateway in the country, Chicago is the only city where six of the seven major railroads converge. The freight industry likes to say it takes a train two days to get from the coasts to the edge of Chicago – and it takes another two days just to enter the city because of the congestion on the rails.
By taking control of the EJ&E line, CN could redirect trains from the heart of Chicago to the suburbs. A shipment coming through the CN line in Matteson and headed to the CN line in Joliet, for example, could get there much quicker if it didn’t need to travel into Chicago and back.
Q. How many trains is CN talking about putting on the EJ&E?
A. It varies. The map at SouthtownStar.com/railroaddeal shows the projected traffic at spots along the EJ&E. In New Lenox, for instance, the 6.4 trains each day would jump to 28.3. In Matteson, EJ&E traffic would climb from 8.6 trains a day to 31.6. But in Chicago’s Beverly community, the number would drop – from 8.4 daily trains to just two.
Q. Is CN planning to share EJ&E tracks with other railroads?
A. Not really. The company says it will honor existing agreements that U.S. Steel has with other railroads. But CN officials said they will not put more trains on the EJ&E beside their own.
Q. If CN has so much money, why doesn’t it go ahead and start sending more trains on the EJ&E?
A. The federal government has the final say. The ultimate decision rests with the Surface Transportation Board, a little corner of U.S. Department of Transportation that rules on railroad mergers and acquisitions.
The three-member board historically favors railroads in these situations. The board has never rejected outright an application presented to it.
Q. What’s with all of these public meetings on the EJ&E the last few weeks? What happens when they are finished?
A. The Surface Transportation Board is conducting eight hearings on its draft environmental analysis of the EJ&E sale. The last one is Thursday in Joliet. The board will accept comments on CN’s plans until Sept. 30. If you want to comment, visit www.stb.dot.gov. Click on “Key Cases” under “Environmental Matters.”
Although it’s called an “environmental” analysis, the lengthy report looks at all phases of CN’s proposal, including the impacts to traffic, noise levels and local economies. A link to the report is at SouthtownStar.com/railroaddeal.
The board will issue its final report and ruling on the EJ&E plans between Dec. 1 and Jan. 31.
Q. Where is the opposition coming from?
A. In the Southland, New Lenox and Frankfort residents have been especially vocal – decrying the blocked crossings, noise and delayed police and fire department responses that more EJ&E traffic surely would bring.
Q. Wouldn’t overpasses or underpasses to separate roads from the EJ&E tracks solve their problems?
A. Yes, but no one can agree where they should go and who would pay for them. In some ways, it’s the biggest bone of contention in the CN proposal.
Of the 112 roads that intersect with the EJ&E line, the Surface Transportation Board found that only 15 would be “substantially affected” by CN’s proposal, including Cicero Avenue in Matteson, Western Avenue in Park Forest and Chicago Road in Chicago Heights.
It’s the board’s way of saying it wants some resolution to the traffic problems before giving CN the OK to run more trains. New Lenox and Frankfort officials also are insisting on some traffic relief for their towns.
But CN, so far, is offering to pay only 5 percent to 10 percent of the cost of any overpasses or underpasses – a drop in the bucket for projects that run in the tens of millions of dollars.
Q. Is there anything that could stop the sale from going through?
A. CN claims U.S. Steel will back out of the deal at the end of the year without federal approval. While U.S. Steel has refused to confirm that, CN is threatening to sue the Surface Transportation Board to force a decision.
Congress also is poised to get involved. A bill in the House would toughen the regulatory process for all railroad transactions. The bill’s sponsors say its passage will be enough to derail CN’s purchase of the EJ&E.