Durbin: Plan could hurt STAR line

The Canadian National Railway's plan to buy the EJ&E railroad shouldn't come at the expense of a new commuter train system through the suburbs, Sen. Dick Durbin said Thursday.

CN hopes to spend $300 million to buy the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad, which stretches in a half-circle roughly from Waukegan to Gary

The Canadian company's plan is to move many of its freight trains from lines going through Chicago onto the EJ&E, thereby relieving congestion in the city.

But towns along the EJ&E that would see significantly more freights are fighting the plan, citing safety, traffic and noise concerns.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board is reviewing the environmental impact and will make a recommendation in several months.

But Durbin and suburban leaders he met in Schaumburg Thursday worried CN's plans will kill the STAR line, a suburb-to-suburb Metra system, supposed to travel on the EJ&E tracks.

CN has said it would allow the STAR line to use land along the EJ&E but it doesn't want extra traffic on the line.

"I think this will have a negative impact on the STAR line," Durbin said.

His remarks were seconded by Rolling Meadows Mayor Ken Nelson and Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson.

But other members of the Illinois delegation are dividing along geographical lines. U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, a Barrington Democrat, who accompanied Durbin Thursday, opposes CN's plan. Yet Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., whose district includes Chicago, supports it with caveats.

CN's Chief Executive Officer Hunter Harrison, meanwhile, recently said, "we think when the environmental impact study comes out, it will say -- for the whole region, this will be better."