Suburbanites protested CN’s merger with the EJ & E Railway in 2008 en route to a hearing at Barrington High School. (Daily Herald File Photo)
Fourteen years ago, suburbanites marched with homemade signs, lobbied their congressmen and hired lawyers in hopes of defeating a proposed merger between mega railroad CN and the smaller EJ & E Railway.
Despite all that, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the deal in late 2008, albeit with tough conditions costing millions.
Now, a separate union between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railways awaits the STB’s decision. So, will history repeat itself in 2022?
In both cases. towns near the railway tracks have opposed the mergers, warning of long waits at crossings, delays for first responders, and increased crashes and hazmat spills.
The CP/KCS deal is far more ambitious than the 2008 one, and it would create a massive rail network from Canada to Mexico. So far, the STB staff is waving on the plan, expecting a “negligible” impact, analysts wrote in a draft report.
At a Thursday online forum, STB officials cited benefits like reduced air pollution.
CP anticipates “reducing truck transportation on highways in North America by more than 60,000 trucks each year,” STB project manager Joshua Wayland said.
Risks like derailments and hazmat spills would increase on some rail line segments, he explained. “We expect the risk of such incidents would remain small.” And most “would be minor and not result in injuries or fatalities,” Wayland said.
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