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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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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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 20, 2008 / By Gerry Smith / Chicago Tribune reporter

Canadian National Railway’s bid to buy the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway gained momentum this week as a key congressman joined a coalition of suburban leaders throwing their support behind the controversial deal.

U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) and the alliance of mayors and village presidents from Buffalo Grove, Crete, Des Plaines, North Riverside, Riverside and South Holland say the proposed purchase could reduce or eliminate CN train traffic in certain corridors, leading to fewer blocked crossings, idling trains and middle-of-the-night train whistles.

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August 2, 2008 / By ANDRE SALLES / Joliet Herald News

On Tuesday, a group of federal legislators will meet in Chicago to discuss Canadian National Railway Company’s proposed $300 million buyout of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail line. But they’ll do it without Canadian National in attendance.

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July 31, 2009 / By Chad Brooks / Daily HeraldRepresentatives of Canadian National will not be answering questions about its proposed purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. before members of the Illinois Congressional delegation Tuesday. In a letter to U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean this week, CN President and CEO E. Hunter Harrison said the CN declined the invitation to appear at Tuesday’s public hearing in Chicago because of the group’s unwillingness to consider the benefits of the deal.

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July 30, 2008 / By Marni Pyke / Daily Herald

On second thought, the Canadian National Railway isn’t thrilled with a report by federal regulators on its request to purchase the EJ&E railroad.

CN issued a short statement saying it believed the report conformed to its view that the issues raised by the merger weren’t unusual. But Tuesday, the company’s CEO Hunter Harrison went further, saying he was disappointed by the federal board’s analysis, suggesting staff was using questionable standards for deciding what crossings would benefit by grade separations, one of the most expensive ways of remedying safety concerns.

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July 26, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune

A federal report on Friday raised the specter of frustrated motorists facing lengthy delays at 15 rail crossings in a dozen communities, but concluded that passenger service would not be impaired if a railroad that winds through Chicago’s suburbs is sold. The long-awaited report also identifies 10 communities-among them Barrington, Joliet, Mundelein and Chicago Heights-where a tripling or quadrupling of freight traffic would severely hamper police, fire and emergency medical response.

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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