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'Monster train' fears rising in suburbs
First 2 Canadian National trains roll down suburban line on Tuesday
By Richard Wronski | Tribune reporter
March 11, 2009
Traffic backs up on Illinois Highway 59 in Barrington as the second Canadian National Railway train of the day passes through the suburb Tuesday. The railroad plans to add four more trains per day on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway over the coming weeks. (Tribune photo by Stacey Wescott / March 10, 2009)
Amid fears of monster trains running through their communities, residents saw the first two Canadian National Railway trains roll down a suburban line Tuesday, one of them a nearly mile-long freight that will be the first of many.
Although opponents of the CN's purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway have raised concerns about supersized trains up to 2 miles long, CN described the new arrivals Tuesday as "normal" freight trains.
The trains were "typical for the hundreds of freight trains that move through Chicago every day," said CN spokesman Patrick Waldron.
The railroad would not discuss the lengths, but one of the trains was 130 cars, about one-mile long by the Tribune's count. That is more than twice the average length of trains that ran on the lightly used EJ&E.
Suburban officials have feared trains 1.5 miles in length or longer, enough to close all of the crossings simultaneously in a village such as Barrington. The railroad has said that some communities will see more than 40 trains a day on the EJ&E.
Village President Karen Darch said the three to five EJ&E trains that formerly ran through Barrington often traveled at night. They were not considered a safety hazard and did not pose significant traffic delays, she said.
Now, Darch says, she worries about people who may have become complacent with the rail crossings.
"I have this vision of kids walking to school, not paying attention, not having seen a lot of trains," Darch said. "Now they may be taking risks they shouldn't. That's a huge fear."
The CN trains Tuesday ran between Mundelein and Matteson. The railroad plans to add four more trains per day on the EJ&E over the next three weeks, Waldron said.
Thirty-three Illinois and Indiana communities along the line face a tripling or quadrupling of freight traffic as the CN reroutes its freights around Chicago's congested rail corridor.
The EJ&E line runs 198 miles from Waukegan to Joliet to Gary.
As the trains rolled Tuesday, other suburban officials questioned when CN would begin implementing mandated safety measures, such as cameras to monitor rail-highway crossings.
CN said those plans are in the works and are part of the railroad's three-year process to carry out the federal Surface Transportation Board's decision giving CN approval to buy the EJ&E for $300 million.
More trains mean emergency responders could face more delays, Barrington Fire Chief James Arie said. Every additional minute that cardiac patients experience waiting for treatment cuts their survivability by 10 percent, he said.
"It's the frequency of the trains that's the issue for Barrington," Arie said. "When you have lots of trains and lots of long trains, those are going to pose a challenge for us that affects our operations."
Aurora residents on Tuesday began phoning the city to complain about the additional trains, Mayor Tom Weisner said.
"It's the beginning over a two- or three-year period in which we'll see [rail] traffic quadruple," Weisner said. "So we're just in the early stages of this. … It's the start of some serious problems for our community."
Weisner and Darch are co-chairs of a coalition of suburbs that has been fighting the CN's plans to reroute freights. They have challenged the transportation board's decision in federal court.
So has the CN, which objects to the board's order that it pay the bulk of the cost of constructing two rail overpasses, one in Lynwood and the other in Aurora, which could run $70 million.
CN has reached agreements with 11 communities to create quiet zones, install safety fencing, implement noise mitigation and take other steps.
The Montreal-based railroad said the acquisition will streamline rail operations, reduce congestion and bolster the Chicago region's economy.
Tribune reporter Russell Working contributed to this report.
rwronski@tribune.com
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