New Lenox Rail Sense

October 12, 2008 / BY GUY TRIDGELL / Southtown Star Staff writer

Southland emergency teams worry about how they’ll cope if CN Railway acquires the EJ&E

Matteson is about to become a tale of two cities. If the controversial sale of the EJ&E Railroad goes through, the town’s fire department could find itself sealed off from a sizeable chunk of Matteson. “I don’t want to say it’s going to be a real burden to us. We don’t have a lot of calls south of the tracks,” Fire Chief Nick Wilkens said. “But if we get even two calls, they are still from our citizens. We have to protect them.”

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October 8, 2008 / Joliet Herald News

The Canadian National Railway has increased the amount it says it will give communities to help mitigate the impact of its purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway with its accompanying threefold impact on the number of trains that use its tracks.

The railroad’s payment would increase from $40 million to $60 million.

Before the cheering starts, it would be wise to remember that neither of those figures comes anywhere near the cost of what would need to be done at grade crossings — ideally make them either bridges or underpasses — to lessen the impact of the two-mile-long trains CN proposes.

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October 8, 2008 / By CLARE WALTERS / Special to The Joliet Herald News

CREST HILL - The potential for increased railroad traffic could mean the installation of a sound wall for one Crest Hill subdivision.

Crest Hill officials will host an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall regarding the effect of Canadian National’s potential acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern rail line on the Cambridge Crest subdivision.

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October 8, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune reporter

Couple wax lyrical about CN plans

Musicians Dan and Jenny Kortmann have a motto: “Whenever there’s a wrong that needs righting, there’s a song that needs writing.” The Lake Zurich couple think the Canadian National Railway’s plan for a rail superhighway through their town is on the wrong track, so they picked up their guitar and banjo and got to work.

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October 2, 2008 / Editorial / Chicago Tribune

Civil wars drown even innocent bystanders in brotherly bloodshed. So before Chicago’s outer suburbs place orders for cannons, before inner-ring communities float a navy, let’s all chill and take a fresh look at Canadian National Railway Co.’s offer to buy the underused Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway.

Approving CN’s proposal would put the good of Chicagoland above the pluses and minuses for individual communities. And Metropolis 2020’s forthcoming analysis should help prove that increasingly obvious conclusion.

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October 2, 2008 / From fightrailcongestion.com

For the first time in the year since CN applied to the Surface Transportation Board to purchase the EJ&E rail line, we have a chance to make our opposition points clear to the public without the necessity to meet various regulatory comment deadlines in the review of this transaction. That’s a real relief!

So, let’s take a deep breath and then roll up our sleeves and get back to work. First, we ask that all opponents of the CN deal take a moment to contact their Members of Congress and thank them for their leadership on representing the region’s interests through sponsorship of HR 6707. In the coming weeks TRAC will be working closely with our federal elected officials to insure we don’t get an STB decision based on a DEIS that isn’t worth the paper it was written on. Let our Members of Congress know you are supporting their efforts 100% and that you remain ready to do your part in the days ahead.

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October 2, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune reporter

Canadian railway raises Chicago-area bid, but critics remain

Canadian National Railway pledged at least $60 million Wednesday to make improvements in its bid to reroute freight traffic through unsympathetic suburbs, but the money won’t begin to cover the cost of 15 overpasses and underpasses that critics say might be needed.

In its bid to buy the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, CN previously had offered $40 million to help communities along the line cope with traffic delays, noise and other problems caused by increased trains.

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October 1, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune reporter 

Villages pan Canadian National report on potential impact

The state agency that oversees railroad safety said Tuesday that Canadian National Railway should be required to help local governments get funding for any needed overpasses if it acquires a suburban rail line.

The federal government also should impose stricter requirements on CN if it approves the purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, the Illinois Commerce Commission said.

A three-year period during which the U.S. Surface Transportation Board would monitor the impact of the proposed acquisition should be expanded from five to 10 years, the commission said in a letter to the transportation board.

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