(The following story by Regan Foster appeared on the Northwest Herald website on March 12.)
CHICAGO — A potential $300 million rail purchase has triggered a war of words, with Canadian National Railway‘s president firing back at two local lawmakers for what he called a “mischaracterization” of a meeting among the three.
In a letter to Illinois’ senior Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, Canadian National President and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison expressed disappointment at the lawmakers’ summary of a March 5 joint meeting, when they discussed Canadian National’s proposal to buy a substantial portion of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway. Harrison especially took umbrage with statements that his company hadn’t sufficiently committed itself to keeping lines open for Amtrak to operate trains from Union Station to Carbondale.
Canadian National, a freight company, wants to buy 200 miles of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern line, locally known as the EJ&E.
The line runs southwest in a loop from Waukegan to South Chicago, passing through Barrington and Lake Zurich.
Although it doesn’t cross into McHenry County, the line does pass over several roadways, including Routes 14 and 59, that act as gateways to the county.
Lawmakers and residents have raised red flags over the social, economic and environmental impact the sale would have on the communities through which the line runs; Metra’s proposed STAR Line; and Amtrak trains downstate.
The legislators had described Harrison as “noncommittal” to their worries.
In his letter, Harrison fired back that the discussion was productive in all areas, and offered a compromise that would keep Amtrak service running. Amtrak officials initially had expressed worries about continued access between Carbondale and Union Station, and about the costs of maintaining the line.
“CN committed last month to allow Amtrak to remain indefinitely on the [line],” Harrison wrote. “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.”
But Durbin responded in a statement that Canadian National’s commitment to the travel line falls short.
“As it stands, CN’s plan would effectively eliminate a rail line critical to the operation of six daily Amtrak trains,” he said. “But there are practical ways to minimize this risk.”