Railway merger opponents speak out in Washington

Opponents of a merger between rail giant Canadian National and the tiny EJ&E railway told Congress Tuesday federal regulators should make communities a priority when deciding on such transactions - but it's unclear if their testimony will have any effect on the CN issue.

CN wants to buy the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway and move freight trains onto its tracks, which stretch from Waukegan to Gary, Ind.

Municipalities that would get increased trains and their congressional representatives are fighting the purchase, arguing it would snarl traffic and delay emergency vehicles at crossings plus cause noise and pollution.

Merger foes in the U.S. House introduced a bill seeking to change the mandate of the Surface Transportation Board, which has authority over such transactions. The STB is responsible for ensuring mergers don't stifle competition in the industry, but the proposal aims to make its members also seriously consider community impact.

During a hearing before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, local leaders talked about the stresses added trains would create unless major and costly improvements such as grade separations are built.

"Without grade separations, we are looking at serious issues into the future," Barrington Mayor Karen Darch said.

Canadian National CEO Hunter Harrison countered that the company had made overtures to towns along the EJ&E only to be rebuffed.

"We've done just about everything we can reasonably do," he said. "Some people say, 'We just don't want you here.' People forget this country was built on railroads."

Darch rebutted that, noting "my town was there before the EJ&E line."

Some congressional sources doubted whether the arguments made by those against the merger would result in a new policy by the time the STB rules on the EJ&E purchase. The Taking Responsible Action for Community Safety Act has not been introduced in the Senate yet and most lawmakers are itching to get on the campaign trail soon with the Nov. 4 election looming.

While municipalities such as Barrington and Aurora that would lose by the merger have been more vocal than supporters, pro-CN forces are growing.

Two University of Chicago urban planning professors added their voices to the controversy recently with a report that concluded poor, low-income neighborhoods in the city will benefit from reduced train traffic.

Merger backers also have an ally in U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, a Western Springs Democrat and the only local congressman on the transportation committee.

Tuesday Lipinski indicated his support for the project but said he understood the need to construct improvements like grade separations to mitigate train hassles and said he was trying to secure more federal dollars for such work.

However, the chairman of the committee, Democrat James Oberstar of Minnesota, is one of the chief sponsors of the bill and has said publicly he's concerned about the impact of freights on EJ&E towns.

During the hearing, Oberstar corrected CN's Harrison on his "this country was built on railroads," comment, saying there was a "symbiotic relationship" between railways and the towns that grow up along them. "They need each other," Oberstar said.

A delegation of DuPage, McHenry, Kane and Lake county Democrats and Republicans all urged the committee to approve the changes to the STB.

"There are well over 40 communities along the EJ&E whose families will experience a 400 to 900 percent increase in train traffic," U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, a Barrington Democrat said.

But transportation expert and DePaul University professor Joseph Schwieterman testified tampering with the way the STB functions may open a Pandora's box.

The bill " has many unintended consequences down the road," Schwieterman said, citing more trucks on the roads as an example. "It could create a systemic bias against railroad mergers ."