Barrington, other suburbs oppose CN's plan

[OwlCaboose2853]

Barrington, other suburbs oppose railroad's plan

By Bob Tita
Nov. 12, 2007

(Crain’s) — Far northwest suburban towns are lining up to oppose Canadian National Railway Co.’s purchase of a lightly used rail line to relieve train traffic congestion in Chicago and close-in suburbs.
The suburban route is key to the railroad’s plan to abandon tracks along the city’s lakefront and in the South Loop, where freight trains have long been seen by Mayor Richard M. Daley and developers as an impediment to further gentrification.

Barrington and neighboring municipalities predict Canadian National’s plans to significantly increase freight train volumes through their towns would lead to nightmarish traffic conditions. And residents worry that noise from lumbering locomotives will shatter the area’s bucolic character, undermining property values and small businesses.

“Traffic is difficult now,” says Carol Nelson, a Lake Barrington resident. “I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen if we have 20 trains a day coming through. The serenity, peacefulness and quality of life will change quite drastically if that happens.” CN expects about 15 more freight trains passing through Barrington on top of the three to five trains a day already using the track on the 198-mile route from Waukegan to Gary, Ind.

Train volumes are likely to increase even more next year as CN hauls more freight into Chicago from a new container port in British Columbia. Within two years, the port will be able to handle at least a million shipping containers a year.

Barrington and at least six neighboring towns intend to lodge objections with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board in hopes of blocking or restricting CN’s acquisition of U.S. Steel Corp.’s Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway for $300 million.

Barrington and neighboring suburbs announced Monday that they have formed a coalition to oppose CN’s plan. The rail issue is expected to be the primary topic at Barrington’s village board meeting tonight.

Montreal-based Canadian National says the route would allow it to move trains through the Chicago area faster and peel some of freight trains off routes where they now idle for hours or creep past street crossings because tracks ahead are jammed with other trains.

“This needs to be viewed as providing relief to the entire surface transportation system,” a railroad spokesman says.

Completion of the sale is contingent on the transportation board’s approval.

A representative of the board declined to comment on Canadian National’s application. Rail industry observers say the board has wide-ranging authority to require CN to install sound walls, underpasses or other remedies to address environmental issues.

Observers say a motivated and well-financed opposition could delay a decision on the sale for months and that approval of the sale could be challenged in federal court. But the likelihood of Barrington and other towns killing the deal is, at best, a long shot.

“For them to meddle in interstate commerce like that, it’s just not going to happen,” Chicago railroad attorney Michael Blaszak says.

http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news ... s&id=27100

[trainjunkie47]

Barrington and the other cities will get a handful of concessions for the deal to go through, you watch. Some walls will be built. Some grade seperations will occur. CN will run their trains, though.

[EJ&ESDM809]

I hope CN doesn't give Barrington what it wants so the deal could be delayed. Plainfield, West Chicago, Griffith and many other towns are complaining as well, not just Barrington. Griffith is in Indiana, and Plainfield is a southern suburb, so it isn't just the northern suburbs complaining. Plainfield doesn't even like how much EJ&E runs now, which is definatly more then 3-5 trains a day. I'd say 15-25 trains a day would be more accurate for the line south of Eola, but north of West Chicago, it is rarely used during the day. Any little thing in the way of the merge could help it get delayed, but probably not averted all together, even though that is what I really want to happen, being the EJ&E fan I am. Another thing that could come into play could be the Metra STAR line, which would run on the EJ&E from Joliet to Barrington. Millions of dollars have already been spent by the state of Illinois along with many towns, and it was expected to possible be in service as soon as 2010. This line could be in jeopardy and I don't expect towns to back down on it after all the money that went into the study and planning of the line.

[intocable83]

these people need to just get over it and accept the trains going through their "perfect little towns". They will eventually get used to it and if they don't they could always just move away to another place.

[trainjunkie47]

these people need to just get over it and accept the trains going through their "perfect little towns". They will eventually get used to it and if they don't they could always just move away to another place.

Five pounds of keilbasa says the tracks were already there before any of their houses were?