Ruling on merger sought

Canadian National is asking the Surface Transportation Board to rule on its proposed purchase of the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. by Dec. 1 in a filing Tuesday with the Surface Transportation Board. Currently, the board is conducting an environmental impact study that is expected to be finished sometime this summer. The board has given no indication when it may rule on the purchase, which is bitterly opposed by some suburbs because it would increase freight traffic through their communities. CN would spend $300 million to acquire the EJ&E, which runs in an arc from Waukegan to Gary, Ind., to serve as a bypass route for CN freight trains.