Post by gatormom on Apr 12, 2008 17:28:12 GMT -5
Metra fretting over EJ&E rail sale
Agency lists reasons CN shouldn't buy it
By Marni Pyke
Daily Herald Staff
4/12/2008
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.
On Friday, Metra officials listed concerns about the deal that ranged from delays for commuter trains that cross the EJ&E tracks to fallout for the STAR line, a proposed suburb-to-suburb transportation system.
If federal regulators approve the acquisition, CN intends to shift significant numbers of freight trains from other tracks it owns to the EJ&E.
CN expects the changes will reduce a freight overload in Chicago and move trains through the region faster, helping the economy and reducing rail congestion.
But the extra traffic on the EJ&E could "severely threaten … efficient commuter rail operations" at crossings in West Chicago and Barrington, according to a Metra report to the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency authorized to rule on the transaction.
Up to now, "we were dealing with a small-time railroad that didn't run a lot of freights," Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano said.
The other concern is that CN is reluctant to let Metra use its tracks for the STAR line, which would connect points like Joliet, Hoffman Estates and O'Hare International Airport along the EJ&E and I-90.
"We have to protect our freight franchise," CN spokesman Jim Kvedaras said.
CN is willing to allow Metra to build tracks alongside the EJ&E, and separate lines are "a much cleaner way of operating," Kvedaras noted.
"We're open to discussing all possibilities."
But the cost of building new tracks is prohibitive and could kill the project, some predict.
In letters to the Surface Transportation Board, CN CEO Hunter Harrison countered that obtaining the EJ&E is a "privately funded solution to partially remedy Chicagoland congestion and to streamline rail operations in the absence of meaningful government funding."
Whatever happens, Metra still has to work with CN, which owns tracks the agency uses including the North Central Line to Antioch.
"We are very fortunate in the region. We've been a partner with the freight railroads," Pagano noted. "You go around the country and it's war."
Agency lists reasons CN shouldn't buy it
By Marni Pyke
Daily Herald Staff
4/12/2008
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.
On Friday, Metra officials listed concerns about the deal that ranged from delays for commuter trains that cross the EJ&E tracks to fallout for the STAR line, a proposed suburb-to-suburb transportation system.
If federal regulators approve the acquisition, CN intends to shift significant numbers of freight trains from other tracks it owns to the EJ&E.
CN expects the changes will reduce a freight overload in Chicago and move trains through the region faster, helping the economy and reducing rail congestion.
But the extra traffic on the EJ&E could "severely threaten … efficient commuter rail operations" at crossings in West Chicago and Barrington, according to a Metra report to the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency authorized to rule on the transaction.
Up to now, "we were dealing with a small-time railroad that didn't run a lot of freights," Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano said.
The other concern is that CN is reluctant to let Metra use its tracks for the STAR line, which would connect points like Joliet, Hoffman Estates and O'Hare International Airport along the EJ&E and I-90.
"We have to protect our freight franchise," CN spokesman Jim Kvedaras said.
CN is willing to allow Metra to build tracks alongside the EJ&E, and separate lines are "a much cleaner way of operating," Kvedaras noted.
"We're open to discussing all possibilities."
But the cost of building new tracks is prohibitive and could kill the project, some predict.
In letters to the Surface Transportation Board, CN CEO Hunter Harrison countered that obtaining the EJ&E is a "privately funded solution to partially remedy Chicagoland congestion and to streamline rail operations in the absence of meaningful government funding."
Whatever happens, Metra still has to work with CN, which owns tracks the agency uses including the North Central Line to Antioch.
"We are very fortunate in the region. We've been a partner with the freight railroads," Pagano noted. "You go around the country and it's war."
