http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=22572
Oct. 24, 2006
Amtrak’s Illinois expansion derailed
Canadian National Railway withholding use of its tracks for some routes
(AP) — It appeared all was lined up for an expansion next week of Amtrak service in Illinois, from Chicago to the far southern reaches of the state and elsewhere. But that's no longer the case.
Now virtually the entire state's congressional delegation, led by Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's second-highest ranking Democrat, is crying foul and accusing the Canadian National Railway Co. of violating an agreement with Amtrak.
"We were notified last week that CN will no longer agree to allow one of the additional roundtrips to St. Louis via Joliet, is threatening to withhold access to the Carbondale route, and may seek to terminate all of the newly added trains in Illinois after just one year," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the company, saying that would violate CN-Amtrak's deal.
The improved Amtrak service was to be made possible in part by a bigger state subsidy, with the Illinois General Assembly doubling the amount to $24 million this year.
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The money was intended to support seven round-trip trains from Chicago to St. Louis, Carbondale and Quincy, up from three trains now.
Durbin spokesman Nadeam Elshami said the senator's office was notified by officials with Amtrak and the Illinois Department of Transportation last Friday about the plans of the Canadian railway, based in Montreal, Quebec.
A receptionist at the company's Canadian office directed a reporter seeking CN comment to its spokesman for operations in the United States, who was not immediately available at his office Tuesday.
In their letter, the lawmakers said that they hope that CN and Amtrak can resolve the matter before Oct. 30, when new service was scheduled to start.
"If this issue is not resolved by then, we request that you meet with us in Washington to discuss this issue the week of November 13th," they said, referring to when Congress reconvenes for its lame-duck session after the Nov. 7. election.
Nearly 1 million passengers used Amtrak lines subsidized by the state last year, a 12.5 percent increase that reached a new record for total passengers.