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 25, 2008 / BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY / Neighborhood Star

New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann is ready to appeal the U.S. Surface Transportation Board’s approval of the Canadian National Railroad’s purchase of the EJ&E tracks.

“I am disappointed that the private interests of a foreign company would take precedent over the impacts on the citizens of this region,” he said Wednesday.

While neighboring communities have made deals with CN to mitigate safety and noise issues, New Lenox sent the railroad a counter-proposal last week seeking “substantial funding” for an overpass at one of its five railroad crossings. Overpasses are estimated to cost between $15 million and $30 million, Baldermann said.

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December 25, 2008 / By BOB OKON / Joliet Herald News

Federal regulators Wednesday approved Canadian National Railway’s plan to the dismay — but not surprise — of many local officials. Canadian National can now move forward with the $300 million acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway line.

But while local officials are disappointed that CN was not required to pay more to ease the impact on road congestion, the railroad company said it will review the decision in light of additional costs imposed by regulators.

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December 24, 2008 / Richard Wronski / Chicago Tribune

Canadian National Railway has won federal approval for its controversial purchase of a line that would loop freight trains around Chicago, a bypass that some suburban communities fear will cause massive traffic problems.

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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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December 24, 2008 / The Canadian Press

A U.S. regulator has approved Canadian National Railway Co.’s (TSX:CNR) controversial takeover of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, which would allow the railway’s freight traffic to bypass the congested Chicago area.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board said Wednesday its approval is subject to a number of conditions, which include a five-year period of formal oversight, as well as a requirement that CN cover most of the cost of two projects to separate highway and rail traffic.

“Approval of this important railroad merger, with the conditions we have imposed, marks a significant step forward in our nation’s efforts to alleviate rail and highway congestion,” stated Surface Transportation Board chairman Charles Nottingham.

CN is set to take ownership of EJ&E on Jan. 23, he added.

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December 22, 2008 / By ALEX ROTH / The Wall Street Journal

CHICAGO — It seemed like a common-sense transaction when Canadian National Railway Co. signed a deal with U.S. Steel Corp. to buy a suburban rail line, seeking to reroute its freight trains around the worst railroad bottleneck in the country. But the big Canadian rail company didn’t anticipate the collision that would follow.

When wealthy neighborhoods along the line learned more trains would be rolling through their suburbs, they were suddenly up in arms, hiring lawyers and publicists to fight the plan. Some inner-city communities, plagued for decades by the ever-present rumbling of rail cars and locomotives, hailed the proposal as a way to ease congestion in their neighborhoods.

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December 16, 2008 / By JOSH SINGER / Hoffman Estates Review

Hoffman Estates joined the ranks of Chicago-area municipalities that approved an agreement with Canadian National Railway Company to soften the impact of new train routes.  CN has proposed a $300 million purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern railroad tracks that arc around the city of Chicago.

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December 15, 2008 / Editorial / Chicago Tribune

Canadian National’s proposed purchase of the EJ&E rail line would boost the Chicago-area economy by $60 million a year, create hundreds of new jobs and ease freight gridlock. That’s the conclusion of an independent economic study commissioned by Chicago Metropolis 2020. The study reinforces our belief that CN’s purchase of the EJ&E would be a net boon to the region and should go forward.

Now the board should give CN the green light to close this deal. It will ease the notorious bottleneck that slows freight to a near standstill here and boost the economy. It will be good for the Chicago region.

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December 15, 2008 / Bloomberg News

Union Pacific Corp. told U.S. regulators that Canadian National Railway Co. is interfering with its track rights on a Chicago-area railroad that the Canadian company wants approval to buy by the end of 2008.

Canadian National “has unlawfully exercised premature control of Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. by interfering with the efforts to implement” a 2003 agreement to use the line, lawyers for Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific wrote in a letter filed with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

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