(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Christopher Wills on October 28.)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Amtrak and Canadian National Railway Co. have reached an agreement that will allow expanded passenger service across Illinois to begin next week as scheduled.
CN will let Amtrak use its tracks as required under a deal reached in July, officials said Friday. But Amtrak has agreed to a one-year study of whether its passenger trains interfere with CN’s freight service. If they do, the Amtrak schedule could be adjusted.
“Canadian National had to live up to their agreement, and Amtrak and the state of Illinois had to be a little sensitive to their business concerns,” Sen. Dick Durbin said during a news conference at the Springfield train station.
Amtrak President Alexander Kummant said in a statement, “We’re pleased that CN’s leadership has made it possible to move forward.”
CN said its concerns “have been addressed, to the mutual benefit of both Amtrak’s passengers and CN’s customers.”
None of the parties would provide further details.
Starting Monday, Amtrak will offer more passenger service on routes between Chicago and St. Louis, Carbondale and Quincy. The additional service is subsidized by $24 million from the state of Illinois.
Because Amtrak does not own railroad tracks, it must negotiate deals with railroad companies to use their tracks.
But CN, after reaching the original deal with Amtrak, began to balk and threatened to withhold access to the Carbondale and St. Louis routes. Service to Quincy would not have been affected, an Amtrak spokesman said.
Most of Illinois’ congressional delegation signed a letter urging CN to work with Amtrak. Gov. Rod Blagojevich also wrote CN to say that disrupting Amtrak service would hurt the state.
Durbin — the Senate’s second-highest ranking Democrat — said CN and Amtrak reached the compromise Thursday.
“If we had not reached this agreement, I’m afraid we would have been headed to court today,” Durbin said, adding that he is confident Amtrak would have prevailed.
Nearly 1 million passengers used Amtrak lines subsidized by the state last year, a 12.5 percent increase that reached a new record for total passengers.