CN in hot water for underreporting crossing blockages

Federal regulators called the Canadian National Railway on the carpet for not informing them of more than 1,400 incidents where trains blocked crossings for more than 10 minutes on the EJ&E railroad.

When the U.S. Surface Transportation Board agreed to CN's purchase of the smaller EJ&E Railway in 2008, it required the Canadian company to issue monthly reports, because of the intense opposition to the merger by towns such as Aurora and Barrington located along the tracks.

But while CN recorded 14 cases when stopped trains blocked crossings for 10 minutes or more between November and December, STB consultants found 1,457 instances caused by stopped or slow moving trains.

The agency ordered the railroad to attend a hearing April 28 in Washington, D.C., "to explain why this blocked crossing data they had in their possession was never disclosed to the agency," STB Chairman Daniel Elliott wrote to congressmen Wednesday.

CN officials called it a misunderstanding - they believed the STB only wanted to know when crossings were blocked by stopped trains, not by slow-moving trains.

"Overall, the audit report documents CN's compliance with the various oversight and reporting conditions," railroad spokesman Patrick Waldron said.

Elliott acknowledged the auditors in general found few deficiencies with the reports. But he characterized the underreporting as a "major discrepancy." The board ordered CN to report all crossing blockages of 10 minutes or more in the future and resubmit its old reports.

Local crossings with significant blockages of 10 minutes or more in November and December include: Mundelein - Route 60 and Route 83 with 101 and Diamond Lake Road with 85; West Chicago - Hawthorne Lane with 83, West Washington Street with 82, Church Street with 58 and Ann Street with 50; Naperville - Diehl Road with 43; and Aurora - Liberty Street with 35.

The findings come during a rough week for CN, which admitted warning signals and lights weren't working Friday in University Park when a Naperville teacher was killed by an Amtrak train while in her SUV.

Elliott acknowledged that the acquisition of the EJ&E, which runs in a semicircle between Waukegan and Gary, Ind., is expected to reduce freight congestion in Chicago and move trains faster through the area. But it comes at a cost to towns along the EJ&E that will get more freight traffic and that's why it's essential CN "strictly adheres to the board's required mitigation," he said.

Waldron said, "although the report recommends clarifications by the STB and improved communication between communities and CN in some areas, CN believes the report validates its overall compliance efforts ... nothing in the report questions whether CN has made a strong and good-faith effort to comply."

Democrats Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington issued a joint statement saying that the underreporting "could literally endanger people's lives." Republican U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert of Hinsdale accused CN of "keeping people in the dark."