(The following story by Brent Jang appeared on the Globe and Mail website on May 20.)
TORONTO — Canadian National Railway Co., already getting an earful from suburban Chicago residents over its plans to buy a freight carrier in their backyard, now faces a new opponent: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Montreal-based CN, which is seeking approval from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to buy Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. for $300-million (U.S.), wants to use EJ&E tracks in suburban Chicago to avoid the gridlock of the city’s core.
“I am opposed to this merger as currently proposed and will work with affected communities to make certain that their views are considered as a part of the Surface Transportation Board process,” the U.S. Senator from Illinois wrote in a letter to Karen Darch, the mayor of the suburban Chicago community of Barrington.
Mr. Obama’s letter challenging CN, dated April 15 and released yesterday by a group of suburban Chicago citizens, has inflamed the battle between CN chief executive Hunter Harrison and members of the Barrington Communities Against CN Rail Congestion.
The tough-talking CN boss has fired off his own letter to the U.S. Senator, a former Chicago community organizer.
“I have always had the highest admiration for you,” wrote the Tennessee-born Mr. Harrison, who then urged the Democratic front-runner to “stand up for the broad regional and national interest” and reject “the views of the relative few who are resisting change and are intent on stopping the transaction.”
The Barrington group opposes the railway’s plans to increase the number of trains going through the suburbs.
The group says that residents northwest of Chicago could see at least 20 trains daily, up from about five a day under the current EJ&E usage.
“I am seriously concerned about the potential hardships for communities associated with increased freight traffic, including traffic delays and the effect on emergency responders in communities who must pass through many at-grade crossings to reach people who need their help,” Mr. Obama wrote on his U.S. Senate stationery from Washington.
“The costs associated with any infrastructure improvements required by this increased freight traffic should be largely borne by CN, and any merger should reflect a solid commitment by the new owners to pay for these improvements.”
Mr. Obama added that CN’s plans to move dramatically more freight along 300 kilometres of EJ&E tracks could “postpone indefinitely the completion of important public transportation improvements that the Chicago metropolitan region desperately needs.”
But Mr. Harrison expressed disappointment, saying he is “hard-pressed” to understand Mr. Obama’s opposition to the EJ&E deal.
“Our proposed acquisition of the EJ&E is a privately funded solution to some of the rail congestion that plagues the Chicago region that will facilitate regional commerce and, on balance, improve the region’s environment,” Mr. Harrison wrote to Mr. Obama in a letter released yesterday by CN.
“We are prepared to pay our fair share for mitigation. And we must point out what some seem to overlook: Every train that moves to the suburbs as a result of our transaction will be moving out of urban Chicago. This is not about adding more trains to the rails; it’s about where trains that are going to have to move anyway can move most efficiently with the least impact on the fewest people and their environment.”
Transportation consultant Greg Gormick said in an interview yesterday that CN has underestimated the fierce opposition in Chicago’s suburbs, notably from affluent households.
He said that while Mr. Obama doesn’t have the power to halt the transaction, his letter serves to embolden residents and give momentum to their protests.
“This has become a flashpoint, with Barack Obama weighing in on this dispute,” Mr. Gormick said. “CN can’t walk over the residents.”
CN has 1,500 employees in Illinois, and its U.S. head office is in Homewood, Ill.
Spokesman Jason Maymon said the citizen protest group will be voicing its objections through a formal filing this week to the regulatory board.
CN estimates that local residents waiting at rail crossings wouldn’t be significantly inconvenienced by longer commuting times, estimating that drivers might be kept idling the equivalent of an extra traffic light.
But Barrington Mayor Darch disagrees.
She said the extra wait could be six to 10 minutes at some crossings.