New Lenox Rail Sense

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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July 25, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune [with video]

Federal officials reviewing the impact of the proposed acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway by the Canadian National Railway concluded Friday that the $300 million deal would not affect existing Metra or Amtrak passenger service or proposed Metra expansion in the Chicago area.

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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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July 1, 2008 / By KATHY CICHON / Naperville Sun

BARTLETT — Hoping to stop in its tracks Canadian National Railway’s plan to acquire the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway, area leaders are looking to Congress for some help.

At a press conference Monday afternoon at Bartlett’s train station, U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Wheaton, unveiled the details of legislation he plans to introduce next week that would preserve a 36-mile stretch of the EJ&E as a “Corridor for Inter-Suburban Commuter Rail.” The bill, dubbed the “Reaching for the STAR Act,” would ensure the rail line could still be used for the proposed Suburban Transit Access Route, which connects 100 communities between Joliet and O’Hare International Airport.

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May 13, 2008 / By CINDY WOJDYLA CAIN / Joliet Herald News

TINLEY PARK — Canadian National Railway is getting a bum rap over its plan to acquire the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway, CN spokesmen said Monday. Opponents of the sale should look to government officials — not CN — to find blame, CN representatives said during a Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

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May 13, 2008 / WTTW “Chicago Tonight” / Reported by Rich Samuels

Why are municipalities in five counties (as well as members of the Illinois congressional delegation) at odds over the proposed purchase of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad by the Canadian National?

(TV coverage includes interviews with CN representatives, local spokespeople, Sen. Richard Durbin and transportation experts.)

View the 12-minute video by clicking here 

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http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=42,8,4&vid=http://wttw.vo.llnwd.net/o16/wttw/c2n/051308b.flv

April 12, 2008 / By Marni Pyke / Daily Herald Staff

It’s not a collision course yet, but Metra leaders are wary of the Canadian National Railway’s plans to purchase the EJ&E railroad.

CN’s decision last fall to buy the line used for freight trains between Gary and Waukegan has drawn passionate opposition as well as support among politicians, the railroad industry and towns along the EJ&E.

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April 2, 2008 / By Justin Kmitch and Melissa Jenco / Daily Herald

In two separate boardrooms in neighboring communities, allies plotted Tuesday night, and pledged several thousands of dollars to prevent Canadian National’s proposed buy-out of the EJ&E rail line.

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March 26, 2008 / By STEWART WARREN STAFF WRITER / Joliet Herald News

JOLIET — The Will County Board is against the Canadian National Railway’s purchase of the Elgin Joliet and Eastern Railway. And they want everyone to know it.

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March 23, 2008 / By Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune

Metra and the Canadian National Railway Co. are at loggerheads over the railroad’s $400 million plan to divert freight traffic around Chicago, a proposal that also puts suburbs at odds with each other and with the City of Chicago over train congestion and blocked railroad crossings.

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