New Lenox Rail Sense

November 26, 2008 / By Richard Wronski | Chicago Tribune 

President-elect has opposed the plan to reroute more trains through Chicago suburbs

Opponents of the Canadian National Railway’s proposed purchase of a rail line through Chicago’s suburbs hope that the election of Barack Obama will bolster their arguments against the deal, but CN’s leader is scoffing at the notion.

Chairman E. Hunter Harrison has said he doesn’t think Obama’s opposition will be a factor in the U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s decision on CN’s planned $300 million purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway.

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November 25, 2008 / By Erik Potter / Gary Post-Tribune

Opponents of the proposed purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway by Canadian National Railway celebrated Monday when the federal Surface Transportation Board issued a letter to six members of the U.S. House of Representatives stating that the board’s decision on the deal would not be announced until next year — after the purchase agreement for the railroad had expired, which would likely kill the deal.

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November 25, 2008/ By Marni Pyke / Daily HeraldU.S. regulators are saying there’s much ado about nothing over a letter they wrote to Illinois members of Congress indicating the controversial merger of the Canadian National Railway and Elgin, Joliet & Eastern railroad won’t be decided until next year.

In the Friday letter to lawmakers who have been critical of CN’s plan to buy the EJ&E, Surface Transportation Board officials indicated that “we anticipate that the board will issue a final environmental impact statement sometime in the next few weeks. This will push a final decision in the matter to sometime early in 2009.”

But on Monday, an federal official said the letter was intended only as an acknowledgment to concerns voiced by congressional leaders and does not preclude the agency deciding on the issue before the new year.

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CHICAGO, Nov 24, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Coalition demands that the record be set straight prior to final ruling

On November 18, the environmental staff (SEA) of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and its consulting firm, HDR, presented its environmental analysis of CN’s acquisition of the EJ&E to the three board members of the STB. While this briefing was open for public observation, the public could not participate in the proceedings or ask any questions.

As an observer, TRAC concluded that this event demonstrated that the environmental staff either does not recognize that its environmental analysis is materially flawed or knows it is flawed but has decided to muddle through in the hope that it can paper over the flaws in the final EIS.

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November 19, 2008 / Naperville Sun

CHICAGO — Canadian National announced an agreement Tuesday with the city of Crest Hill, regarding its proposed acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway.  The agreement addresses municipal concerns about the community impact of the transaction through the proposed creation of quiet zones and implementation of noise mitigation measures.

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November 19, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune

Railway urged to pay more for overpasses 

Federal regulators could ask the Canadian National Railway to shell out a much larger share of the cost to build overpasses than railroads traditionally have paid as a condition for allowing CN to buy a suburban rail line. Consultants hired by the Surface Transportation Board said Tuesday they would recommend that Canadian National pay 15 percent of the so-called mitigation costs resulting from the railroad’s proposed $300 million purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway.

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November 19, 2008 / Associated Press 

Canadian National Railway says it has reached an agreement with a Chicago suburb over its proposed purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. Canadian National said Tuesday its agreement with Crest Hill includes creating quiet zones and the use of noise mitigation measures.

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Nov. 7, 2008 / Press Release

The Surface Transportation Board announced that it will hold a public meeting on November 18, 2008, at its Washington, D.C. headquarters, concerning the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) now being prepared in Canadian National Railway Company and Grand Trunk Corporation-Control-EJ&E West Company, STB Finance Docket No. 35087.

During the public meeting, the Board Members will be briefed by, and will discuss the EIS with, staff of the agency’s Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA). The meeting will be open for public observation but not public participation.

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