CN should stick to the deal
It's a big week for the Canadian-based railroad company CN but it seems they still could use some good public relations advice.
After a long battle with communities that do not want more freight traffic, CN won federal regulators' approval on Dec. 24 to purchase the EJ&E railroad. The EJ&E track runs in a semicircle west of Chicago between Waukegan and Gary, Ind.
The controversial purchase has split the Chicago area in half. Communities along the EJ&E fear traffic problems, noise, hazardous waste spills and delays for school buses and emergency responders. Communities closer in to Chicago look forward to seeing some of the freight traffic they now deal with being diverted farther west.
There are good arguments to be made for both sides. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board recognized that when they approved CN's $300 million purchase of EJ&E. As a condition for approval, for example, CN is required to pay more than 65 percent of the cost of grade separations in Aurora and Lynwood, which CN says would cost the company $70 million.
Fast forward to last week and we find CN filing suit to get out of that condition. CN says normally a railroad would only pay 5 percent to 10 percent of the cost of an overpass or underpass.
Yes, it's their right to go to court and fight the requirement. Just like it's the right of towns along the EJ&E to continue to fight the purchase approval in court. But we agree with Sen. Dick Durbin and Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner who say the latest move by CN is questionable at best.
Weisner said the action is "a clear indication of the bad faith they've been exhibiting." The mayor said the suit could mean the grade separation, near Rush-Copley Medical Center, might not get done even though it is "absolutely critical."
Durbin, in urging regulators to defend their decision, said CN's move "raises the question about the future of other commitments and agreements CN has made."
Indeed it does. In January, we urged CN to work with Metra on the proposed STAR Line, a suburb-to-suburb commuter line which is slated to use EJ&E track if it is to be built. We said then it would do well for CN to show it wanted to be a good partner with the entire region.
Unfortunately, its move last week calls into question how good a partner CN wants to be. The fact that they could start moving more freight trains onto those tracks as early as Wednesday and the affected communities don't yet know at what times they will move also makes us wonder about CN's role as a partner.
We hope DePaul University transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman is correct, when he told our trasnportation writer, Marni Pyke, that CN is "painfully aware the public will be watching every step."
What we also hope is that CN will take steps to make this transition less painful for all involved. CN won the battle to buy the EJ&E. We think they should live up to the conditions of that approval and work harder to mitigate the concerns of the affected communities.