Suburban officials seek changes after CN fight
SPRINGFIELD - On the first day Canadian National could begin running freight trains on EJ&E lines, suburban officials complained to state lawmakers about increasing traffic and delays through Naperville, Barrington, North Barrington, Plainfield and others communities.
"Washington needs to understand the railroad legislation itself is actually broken and needs to be fixed," Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud said. "It is more than 100 years old. It does not contemplate very large-scale unit freight trains. It does not contemplate international rail companies that are essentially using our communities as a through way. There is no commercial or economic development potential, so we suffer all the impact without any additional value from this sale."
Abboud was among the suburban officials who traveled to state Capitol to back Naperville Republican state Rep. Darlene Senger's effort to get state lawmakers to urge their D.C. counterparts to change the way they approve rail acquisitions. She would like them to consider the cost and benefits of running trains through a community equally.
"If you find that the cost, which is the impact on the roads and safety and noise and everything else, outweighs the benefits, which is commerce, than you have to either deny it or work it in a way you are made whole again," she said.
If ever approved, Senger's resolution is mostly symbolic and carries no legal weight. However, the Canadian National issue is among the most contentious in the suburbs.
Canadian National officials did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment but the company previously contended that shifting freights from its tracks in Chicago and nearby suburbs will ease a bottleneck in the city. That argument carried weight with federal regulators, who approved the deal Dec. 24.
Business officials also have defended the move as one that will help the region's economy, and local, state and federal officials fall on both sides of the debate.
Wednesday was the first day the railroad is authorized to put more trains on the EJ&E. However, the company is still ironing out schedules and has not provided details on the extent of the extra train traffic.
CN did announce it had reached a deal with West Chicago, a town that will see a significant increase in train traffic. CN has agreed to help create quiet zones, build safety fencing, train emergency responders and work on noise mitigation in the city.
Senger, however, is firmly opposed to the merger. She said her community would see a 400 percent increase in rail traffic and cause delays for commuter trains.
"The message now that Springfield needs to send to Washington is we need to be made whole again. If we can't stop the train then we need to do something to bring our communities back to where they were before. It is just totally unfair on how this whole thing has been managed," said Senger.
Other suburban Republicans joined her opposition Wednesday.
"Plainfield will be dramatically affected and could see 42 trains per day," said House Republican leader Tom Cross, of Oswego. "With that many trains and 16 crossings holding up emergency vehicles, school buses and working families, our community could literally come to a standstill. This is a recipe for disaster."
State Rep. Michael Connelly, also a Naperville Republican, similarly expressed concern over emergency vehicles being stuck at crossings.
CN also announced Wednesday it had invited representatives from the 33 towns affected by its expansion to a one-week hazardous materials training session.