All aboard on Canadian National's assumptions?

Communities all along the EJ&E Railroad oppose the Canadian National's (CN) takeover plans that'll more than quadruple the number of daily 2-mile long freight trains. Let's accept some assumptions, however. Let's assume for example, that Barrington, a town that already lives with some 70 trains per day, is composed of nothing more than, as CN puts it, "selfish, not-in-my-backyard" (NIMBY) people. Logically then, the towns from which CN will relocate the trains are also NIMBYs, urging CN to move their traffic elsewhere and out of their own backyards.

CN says they're willing to pay $40 million for highway grade crossing improvements. Of course, that money's earmarked for just two crossings; one at the north entrance of CN's Joliet rail yard, the other at the south end, but let's assume that ensuring their employees get to work on time constitutes CN paying their fair share. Likewise, we'll accept CN's assumption that all trains on their proposed "NAFTA rail superhighway" will travel at the maximum speed of 39 miles per hour, sailing without risk to public safety through suburbs lacking any under- or overpasses.

And, while the federal environmental impact study determined that the Chicago region's overall economy may be "negatively impacted" by CN's plans, let's assume that CN has only Illinoisans' best interests at heart. We'll also assume that CN possesses a long and illustrious record of community partnership. Given all these intellectual contortions asked of us, let's then assume that no party should be opposed to H.R. 6707, an important and common-sense piece of legislation up for vote in Congress this month. It simply updates rail law to require all such transactions receive an environmental impact review, and that no future transaction shall be approved if the adverse impacts on safety in affected communities outweigh the transportation benefits. Contact your representatives quickly to urge them to vote for H.R. 6707!

We'll assume that good corporate citizens like our CN "partners" will be all aboard.

Michael Deering

Barrington