New Lenox Rail Sense

December 25, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune

Trains may triple in many suburbs

Federal regulators have given a green light to Canadian National Railway’s plan to divert freight traffic through Chicago’s suburbs, a possible boon for the economy but potentially bad news for many suburban motorists likely to encounter delays at blocked crossings. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board unanimously approved on Wednesday CN’s $300 million purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway. But in response to critics, the board imposed an unprecedented condition: CN must pay tens of millions of dollars to build two overpasses in Aurora and Lynwood.

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December 2, 2008 / Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune

The Chicago area’s economy would grow by more than $60 million a year, freight traffic gridlock would ease, and hundreds of jobs would be created if the Canadian National Railway is allowed to divert freight traffic onto a suburban rail line, a new study said. The CN plan also would relieve highway congestion in northeastern Illinois and boost the nation’s gross domestic product by $267 million, according to the study to be released Wednesday by Chicago Metropolis 2020.

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September 10, 2008 / By ANDRE SALLES / Aurora Beacon News

Board gets earful of concerns surrounding possible sale 

AURORA — Less than an hour into Tuesday night’s hearing on a controversial railroad sale proposal, Aurora resident John Lieck stepped up to the microphone, air horn in hand.

Lieck lives on Keating Drive, not far from the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway tracks that run through the far East Side. If Canadian National Railway Company is allowed to buy those tracks, and significantly increase the number of trains barreling over them, Lieck said, his nights will go something like this:

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September 9, 2008 / By James Fuller / Daily Herald

The Kane County Board sent out a message regarding how it feels about the pending sale of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Tuesday, but it wasn’t stern enough for some elected officials.

Kane County’s resolution is the first in the area to not outright reject the sale. Lake, DuPage and Will counties have denounced the sale because of concerns about how a fivefold increase in freight train traffic will impact their communities.

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September 9, 2008 / By Kevin Craver / Northwest Herald

Canadian National may be headed to court after the Surface Transportation Board ruled that it cannot buy the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway prior to a final environmental report.

The three-member STB, which approves all U.S. railway sales, denied CN’s request that the board approve the purchase by mid-October, and rule on the environmental aspects later when the final report is issued.

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August 21, 2008 / BY DAN CAMPANA / Fox Valley Villages Sun

AURORA — The Surface Transportation Board has been “unwilling” to change the site of a public meeting on Canadian National Railway’s plan to buy the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, according to Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner.

On Friday, officials from Aurora and Naperville went public with their disappointment over the federal agency’s decision to use West Aurora High School — several miles from the rail line sale’s hot zone — to host public comment on Sept. 9.

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August 21, 2008 / By Dan Campana / Aurora Beaconn News

The first formal support has come forth for Canadian National Railway’s plan to shift its freight traffic to the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern rail line. But Fox Valley critics remain unfazed.

Leaders of several municipalities to the east, which are in line to see fewer trains if CN gets approval of the sale, have created their own coalition and are expected to receive the backing of U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski during an event this morning.

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August 11, 2008 / BY ANDRE SALLES / Aurora Beacon News

Bob Dylan was right — it does take a train to cry. Or rather, dozens of trains, barreling through your formerly quiet suburban neighborhood.

The controversy surrounding Canadian National Railway’s plan to buy the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail line has been interesting to watch so far. A couple of weeks ago, Aurora, Naperville and Plainfield got together to hold a public meeting about the proposed sale, which would quadruple the number of freight trains running through some suburban areas.

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August 13, 2008 / By DAN CAMPANA / Aurora Beacon News

Ed Frank spent 37 years working on the railroad, train crossings in particular. “I’ve seen about every kind of railway thing you can experience,” the 87-year-old Auroran said recently.

Among his roles, Frank did surveys and traffic counts to place and remove crossings as a construction and field engineer for the Burlington railway.

It’s that perspective that prompts him to say area residents need to look a bit deeper before panning Canadian National’s proposal to buy the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway line. He recognizes people are hung up on the increase in freight traffic through Aurora’s far East Side and what that means to traffic congestion, but says a longer view is needed.

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July 30, 2008 By ANDRE SALLES / Aurora Beacon News

If Canadian National Railway Company ends up buying the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail line, some expensive work at some of the busier crossings will likely be required.

But those upgrades may cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take years to complete, according to local communities along the line.  And no one is quite sure who will pay for the work.

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