New Lenox Rail Sense

December 25, 2008 / BY GUY TRIDGELL / SouthtownStar

Company must also help fund road bypasses, cameras at crossings

The Canadian National Railway Co. got its wish to buy the EJ&E Railroad, but it’s going to have to pay. In a unanimous decision Wednesday, the federal Surface Transportation Board approved the company’s $300 million purchase of the EJ&E, a 198-mile line that arcs the Chicago area.

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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 24, 2008 / By Marni Pyke and Nadia Malik / Daily Herald Staff

The sale of a train line that will affect rail traffic levels throughout the Chicago region got the final green light from federal regulators Wednesday - but suburban opponents vow to keep fighting it.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board unanimously approved the acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway line - which runs in an arc through around Chicago, from Waukegan to Gary, Ind. - by the Canadian National Railway Co.

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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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September 14, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune

The Canadian National Railway Co.’s plan to reroute freight train traffic through Chicago’s outlying suburbs has generated a locomotive-size controversy.

Opponents say the plan raises concerns about safety, traffic and pollution, while CN and experts say diverting freight trains around Chicago’s congested rail corridor will benefit business and the economy.

Here’s a look at some who favor the deal or oppose it-and why.

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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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Sep 06, 2008 / Reuters News Agency (published in Toronto Star)

Railway says it would need millions in American tax dollars to make project more palatable to locals

BARRINGTON, Ill.–By all accounts, America will need more rail tracks in the coming years to handle freight for a growing population’s needs, but laying down any new rails is a sure way to stir up fierce local opposition.

Rarely is local opposition as well-organized and well-funded as here in the leafy, wealthy Chicago suburb of Barrington, where politicians and residents are protesting Canadian National Railway’s proposed acquisition and expansion of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway (EJ&E).

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August 27, 2008 / CBS2-WBBM / by Suzanne Le Mignot

BARRINGTON, Ill. (CBS) - There was a packed public hearing in Barrington Wednesday night to discuss plans by the Canadian National Railway to acquire track that runs through dozens of communities in the Chicago area. Many residents are worried about noise, delays and safety.  CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot reports that critics of a plan to increase rail freight traffic through dozens of communities raised their voices in dissent.

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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 12, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune reporterDrivers stuck at crossings could see 2 miles of rail cars

Call them freight trains on steroids, monster trains double-stacked with containers, long enough to block every rail crossing at the same time in some Chicago-area communities.

Many suburban officials fear the number of such lengthy trains will increase if a plan to divert transcontinental freight traffic through their communities is approved.

In Barrington, one of these 1.5-mile or longer trains could shut down all four crossings simultaneously, said Village President Karen Darch, who worries that even longer behemoths are in the offing.

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