Real estate group supports EJ&E freight deal

The Canadian National Railway found a sympathetic audience Tuesday for its case to buy the EJ&E railroad.

CN's plan to move many of its freight trains from rail lines mainly in the Chicago area onto the less-used EJ&E tracks has attracted both support and fierce opposition from towns along the route.

Public opinion on the purchase, which must be approved by federal regulators, is largely based on whether it means more or fewer trains in a specific community.

But, in an informal poll conducted after the CN presentation Tuesday, 104 out of 121 members of the Association of Industrial Real Estate Brokers voted in favor of the proposal.

CN public affairs manager Jim Kvedaras said the Canadian company was willing to commit $40 million to reduce the effect of added trains in communities. He argued that reducing freight bottlenecks in Chicago will improve the region's economy by cutting back expensive delays.

"We have to coexist, and we're motivated to work with communities," Kvedaras said.

The association's endorsement didn't exclude the plan from criticism during the lunch meeting.

Lake Zurich Trustee Jim Johnson questioned whether CN was underestimating the number of freights that will rattle through local towns and was skeptical trains will keep to projected speeds of 40 mph, anticipating they'll be much slower.

Johnson's concerns echo those of communities ranging from West Chicago to Barrington where residents fear that more freights will tie up traffic, pose environmental problems and delay emergency vehicles at crossings.

In some towns, freight traffic will increase from about five trains a day to as many as 20.

The Surface Transportation Board, the agency that ultimately votes on the proposal has yet to rule on a request by CN to expedite an environmental evaluation of the impact of the acquisition that could take years.

Despite the fact congressional heavy hitters such as Sen. Dick Durbin are critical of the concept, "we still feel cautiously optimistic the STB can come up with a decision in 2008," Kvedaras said.