New Lenox Rail Sense

April 24, 2008 / Chicago Tribune

The Barrington area is the most vocal opponent to this plan because the number of freight trains passing through each day would grow to 20 from five. Complaints from towns along the EJ&E route that don’t want more train traffic aren’t reason enough to block this plan. Its benefits for the Chicago area are overwhelming. But the Barrington area, and possibly others along the route, will need crossings that separate road traffic from rail. CN has said it will pay $40 million to help build those crossings. That may not be enough. But local demands that CN foot the entire bill for all improvements are unreasonable and would be unprecedented.

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April 22, 2008 / By Chad Brooks / Daily Herald Staff

They’ve voiced their opposition to Canadian National’s proposed purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co., but Tuesday suburban leaders tried to take the message directly to shareholders.

The leaders from Barrington Communities Against CN Rail Congestion and The Regional Answer to Canadian National, however, were escorted out of a Chicago hotel before they could get an audience at the CN shareholders meeting there Tuesday.

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April 22, 2008 / By Mary Ellen Podmolik / Special to the Chicago Tribune 

When Canadian National Railway Co. meets with investors Tuesday in Chicago, one notable exception will be missing from the list of accomplishments it can rattle off since last year’s annual meeting in New Brunswick: its $300 million acquisition of key operations of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Co.

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April 22, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune reporter

Suburbs join forces and ask Congress to help stop bid to re-route train traffic

Suburban leaders fighting the Canadian National Railway’s plan to boost freight train traffic through their communities bolstered their ranks Tuesday and called on Congress to force the railroad to pay to lessen the trains’ impact or else help stop the deal. Several more suburbs, including Aurora, Naperville and Plainfield, joined a coalition of Barrington-area communities to fight Canadian National’s plans to divert freight trains through the outlying suburbs.

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April 21, 2008 / By Susan DeMar Lafferty / Chicago Sun-Times news

As the municipal Davids continue to tackle the Goliath Canadian National Railroad, they are rallying troops and gathering ammunition.

Frankfort, Mokena and New Lenox, initially got together with other Will County communities to discuss the environmental impacts that increased freight trains would cause if the CN is allowed to acquire the EJ&E tracks in this area. They have now been invited to join with towns throughout DuPage, Lake County and Lake County, Indiana, to form a coalition dubbed TRAC–The Regional Answer to Canadian National.

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April 21, 2008 / By Daniel D. Pritchett, Village President, Franklin Park (CREATE Task Force Co-Chair)

Franklin Park has been a major railroad hub for over 125 years. The proposed purchase of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway by the Canadian National Railway Co. will benefit Franklin Park and the entire Chicago region.

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April 20, 2008 / By CHRISTINA CHAPMAN, Herald News Staff Writer

Like many of its neighbors, Grundy County also opposes the sale of the Elgin Joliet and Eastern Railway to Canadian National Railway, but officials say they can be swayed. The Grundy County Board approved a resolution “supporting continued industrial rail service on the EJ&E railroad in Grundy County.”

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April 12, 2008 / By Marni Pyke / Daily Herald Staff

It’s not a collision course yet, but Metra leaders are wary of the Canadian National Railway’s plans to purchase the EJ&E railroad.

CN’s decision last fall to buy the line used for freight trains between Gary and Waukegan has drawn passionate opposition as well as support among politicians, the railroad industry and towns along the EJ&E.

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April 8, 2008 / Herald News Commentary / By Gordon Trafton, senior vice president for CN’s Southern Region, based in Homewood, Ill.

Even with the powerful benefits this transaction will bring to the region, CN is being asked to solve and pay for crossing problems that existed long before anyone considered using the EJ&E to relieve regional rail congestion. Freight trains are an important part of our region’s transportation system and our economy. CN stands ready to commit more than $100 million to improving the EJ&E — a vital piece of infrastructure that has, and will continue, to serve our region well.

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April 2, 2008 / By Justin Kmitch and Melissa Jenco / Daily Herald

In two separate boardrooms in neighboring communities, allies plotted Tuesday night, and pledged several thousands of dollars to prevent Canadian National’s proposed buy-out of the EJ&E rail line.

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