Concern over CN purchase of Chicago area railroad

Concern over CN purchase of Chicago area railroad Canadian National Railway's plan to acquire the principal lines of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. from United States Steel Corp. is running into opposition from communities in the Chicago suburbs concerned about increased rail traffic.
   In a letter to the Surface Transportation Board, U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo said plans to add an additional 15 trains a day would delay motorists and cause delays on the with the Metra commuter railway. About three to five trains today use the line.
   'The board needs to have a complete and accurate picture of this proposed acquisition, particularly its practical day-to-day effects for northern Illinois commuters, communities, and businesses,' Manzullo said.
   The CN purchase 'may be good news for its stockholders, but is bad news for the Barrington region,' said a statement by a group opposed to the deal called Barrington Communities Against CN Rail Congestion. Barrington is a suburb northwest of Chicago on the border of Lake and Cook counties.
   The Times of Northwest Indiana also reported concerns about increased rail traffic in Indiana towns because of the proposed purchase of the EJ&E by CN.
   But E. Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer, said the debate about the EJ&E should be refocused 'on the broad rail transportation efficiency and environmental benefits of the acquisition.'
   By using the short-line railroad to disperse trains on the periphery of the Chicago metropolitan area, CN claims it will 'increase the speed of commerce through the region by cutting rail congestion in the inner core of Chicago,' and 'provide increased transportation capacity in the Chicago region at time when demand for rail transportation is expected to rise.'
   Karen Darch, president of village trustees for Barrington, and a leader of the group opposed to the deal, said thousands of cars per day would be moved from CN's current route in downtown Chicago to the line through Barrington. She said CN plans to use the lines to make connections with four other large railroads, including the Union Pacific.
   'CN would use the acquired lines to reroute new and expanded traffic around Chicago for years and decades to come; and the growth in freight traffic that all Chicago area railroads will experience in the next 20 years is expected to be 80 percent,' the group claims. It said each of the 15 trains will take about six minutes to pass each grade crossing.
   According to Darch, that will 'wreak havoc on traffic flow through the Barrington region, creating safety hazards at grade crossings and dramatically increasing Fire and EMS response times, train noise and noxious emissions from idling cars and trains.'
   STB's Section of Environmental Analysis will hold hearings Jan. 9 in Barrington.