More trains will hurt Barrington

To the editor: The Canadian National Rail Corp. has purchased the Elgin Joliet and Eastern RR (The "J') from United States Steel. They want to upgrade the line and increase the number of mile-long freight trains.

Don't count on them being good neighbors. They will want to run as many trains as they can physically fit on the line. If they are allowed to do so it will be a disaster for traffic in Barrington and the ensuing effects will be a nightmare.

You can count on property values deteriorating as businesses and citizens flee.

The Barrington area has evolved and grown over the last 50 years in an environment of only five to six trains per day on The "J." Quadrupling that number can only have a dramatic detrimental effect. Any plans for increasing the traffic on The "J" will have to be restricted to a level that does not seriously impact our community.

Be very suspicious of any elected officials that say our region has to "work with" the CN to reach an agreement, and take everything the CN says with a block of salt. They are not interested in anything but a lot of trains running on The "J."

Richard Chambers

Barrington