CN Railroad - 3/31/DH 4/2

[sushi]

Railroad responds to Sun's editorial

Regarding your March 21 editorial, "CN must mitigate traffic problems if it buys EJ&E," some perspective is in order.
CN employs more than 1,500 people in Illinois, with an annual Illinois payroll of $97 million. Our U.S. headquarters is located in south suburban Homewood. Our trains not only run through this region, we live, work and raise our families here.

CN is of course only one of many transportation companies serving northeastern Illinois. One-third of our nation's rail freight traffic moves to, from or through the Chicago region. It is the nation's rail capital, with some 1,500 train runs per day in our six-county region.

When freight travels by rail, everybody wins. One freight train can carry as much freight as 280 semi-trailer trucks. In addition to easing highway congestion, freight trains are fuel efficient. One gallon of diesel fuel will move 1 ton of freight 423 miles by rail, or more than four times as far as by truck.

Currently, however, rail congestion through Chicago is so bad that it can take a CN train 24 hours or more to go 30 miles across the region. If you've ever seen a freight train crawl across one of our region's crossings and wondered why it's moving so slowly, the reason is our rail system is overloaded. Under current conditions, our trains must spend long periods idling, waiting to proceed and polluting the region's air needlessly.

The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern rail line - a bypass around Chicago and many near suburbs - is an important part of improving our region's rail system.

Along its busiest segments, our proposal would run a projected additional 24 trains per day on the EJ&E. This is low compared to other main lines in our region, which routinely see 100 or more trains per day as they travel through growth communities, like Naperville.

Since the EJ&E was completed more than a century ago, rapid growth has occurred around the rail line and beyond. In many cases, suburban development has far outstripped our region's transportation capacity. The result of such development patterns left roadways congested and drivers frustrated, long before CN even proposed the acquisition.

The 30 most congested grade crossings in the Chicago area have gate-down times of up to 40 percent of the day, according to a 2002 Illinois Commerce Commission report.

By contrast, CN's average projected "gate down" time will be less than 10 percent on the EJ&E lines.

Regionally, we believe that our proposal will actually reduce motorist delays. A preliminary analysis found that CN's plan will reduce regional crossing delays by 174 hours per day, or 63,510 hours per year.

Even with the powerful benefits this transaction will bring to the region, CN is being asked to solve and pay for crossing problems that existed long before anyone considered using the EJ&E to relieve regional rail congestion.

Freight trains are an important part of our region's transportation system and our economy. CN stands ready to commit more than $100 million to improving the EJ&E - a vital piece of infrastructure that has, and will continue, to serve our region well.

Gordon Trafton

Senior vice president

CN Southern Region

Homewood

[promark]

Along its busiest segments, our proposal would run a projected additional 24 trains per day on the EJ&E. This is low compared to other main lines in our region, which routinely see 100 or more trains per day as they travel through growth communities, like Naperville.

What is he comparing? There are not 100 trains per day on the EJ&E crossing through Naperville. Is he referring to Metra?

[Arch]

"other mainlines in our region"...

Perhaps he is meaning BNSF line

[sam2]

promark said:

Along its busiest segments, our proposal would run a projected additional 24 trains per day on the EJ&E. This is low compared to other main lines in our region, which routinely see 100 or more trains per day as they travel through growth communities, like Naperville.

What is he comparing? There are not 100 trains per day on the EJ&E crossing through Naperville. Is he referring to Metra?

I think he is referring to the entire service area that would be impacted by this change. If traffic is routed to the EJ&E line, speed would increase, gate down times would decrease somewhere and increase here, but by a lesser amount. For the entire region, things would improve, but in some areas, things would deteriorate.

Don't know if that is correct, but that's how I read it.

[rural]

"Regionally, we believe that our proposal will actually reduce motorist delays. A preliminary analysis found that CN's plan will reduce regional crossing delays by 174 hours per day, or 63,510 hours per year."


Hey, do you think they had Laidlaw do their numbers? ;D

[sushi]

In the DH today, a FULL PAGE ad from a group opposed to this purchase.

www.FightRailCongestion.com

So many causes, so little time!

[sushi]

Aurora, Naperville seek to keep rail line from buyout

By Justin Kmitch and Melissa Jenco | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 4/2/2008 12:14 AM

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.

Aurora officials, though at a committee of the whole meeting, pledged as much as $15,000 to the fight while Naperville earmarked $10,000 for lobbyist expenses to represent the city's and region's concerns and opposing the sale.

If CN were successful, the $300 million buyout of the track, which runs in an arc from Waukegan to Gary, IN. would become a bypass route for CN freight trains.

It would also likely end any possibilities of the long-proposed STAR Line.

Aurora Chief of Staff Bill Wiet said he and other city officials attended a meeting on the acquisition last month hosted by DuPage County.

More than 100 representatives from surrounding municipalities attended and another meeting was scheduled for April 11 to discuss the formation of a new coalition organization, its community breakdown and a cost-sharing plan to finance the fight.

"We would like to have a resolution at Tuesday's city council meeting that would support the participation in the full coalition and provide up to $15,000," Wiet said. "We don't know what the amount will be, but we know numbers like that have been thrown out, whether its based on population, grade crossings or just municipalities.

"We thought going into this having approvals and being ready would make the process go faster and lead to a lot more participation from the city of Aurora in this process."

Ninth Ward Alderman Leroy Keith argued the city should be involved as soon as possible so that officials can weigh in on any environmental impact studies that may be under way.

"We want to make sure that all of the municipalities have all of the data ready to go and that we're not waiting until the environmental impact study is put in front of us," Keith said. "I don't mean to stir trouble or cause the residents of the area to get in an uproar but they made no bones about it that if CN does buy the line, that's the end of the STAR Line. There's just not enough right of way there to put in the tracks necessary for a commuter train to go there. That needs to weigh heavily on the decision of the Service Transportation Board when they consider it."

The STAR Line, as proposed, would take riders down the Northwest Tollway, I-90, then near Hoffman Estates head south to Joliet along the EJ&E tracks. It would link about 100 communities and connect with O'Hare International Airport. Uncertain funding has pushed the project at least a decade back.

Wiet said Aurora might also be considering more localized efforts as well, whether it is Aurora as a single community or with municipal neighbors forming a more local effort.

"We want to be up there in front, either helping lead the charge against the acquisition or providing for mitigation," he said. "And I think this is a good start and we may be coming back with another plan to provide more localized efforts."

To that end, Naperville also decided Tuesday to take on whatever costs Councilman Darlene Senger incurs as the city's representative in dealing with the issue.

[doctorwho]

sushi said:

In the DH today, a FULL PAGE ad from a group opposed to this purchase.

www.FightRailCongestion.com

So many causes, so little time!

yep- I am also involved with the group fighting for Hobson Ponds