New Lenox Rail Sense

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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December 17, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune reporter

CN to spend millions on addressing problems with safety, noise and traffic

Some communities that had opposed Canadian National Railway’s plan to run more freight trains through their towns have decided to stop fighting and negotiate their own deals to ease noise, safety and traffic concerns. As of Tuesday, eight communities-from Mundelein to Frankfort and Schererville, Ind.-have approved individual agreements with the railway that are worth millions of dollars.

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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 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 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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August 5, 2008 / By Mike Flannery / CBS2/WBBM-TV

Opponents of a freight train line expansion through the suburbs have taken their fight to Congress. As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, critics of the plan say it will bring crippling traffic congestion:

Near North Avenue and Northwest Highway in Barrington, it is quiet along the EJ&E tracks most of the day now. That would change if, as expected, a federal agency soon approves the purchase of the tracks by Canadian-based Canadian National.

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July 28, 2008 / By David Schaper / National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” [link contains audio]

A “calamity,” a “rail meltdown” and “chaos in the supply chain” - those are all ways transportation experts and executives describe the state of railroad congestion in Chicago. “And it’s only going to get worse,” adds another.

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The summary alone of a draft report by federal regulators on the Canadian National Railway’s proposal to buy the EJ&E railroad is 54 pages of transportation wonkery.But it didn’t take long for politicians opposing the deal to give their opinion - they hate it.

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June 30, 2008 / By Lenore T. Adkins / Daily Herald Staff

CN has agreed to a study that will measure the environmental impact its purchase could have on surrounding communities, Barrington Mayor Karen Darch announced Sunday during the first of many local rallies against the acquisition.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=213695

By Robert Channick / June 29, 2008 / Chicago Tribune

Financial harm to towns cited as protesters target proposed rail acquisition

Arguments against Canadian National Railway’s proposed acquisition of a little-used freight line took a sharp turn Sunday at a Barrington rally from concerns over the quality of life to the grim economic realities in affected communities.

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