ITASCA, Ill. — Some two months after announcing plans to do so, eight western Chicago suburbs have formalized their formation of a coalition to address concerns over the impact of the Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern merger.
And while many communities along the routes of the CPKC, the company that would be formed by the merger, are requesting measures to mitigate the impact of projected increased rail traffic, the name of this group — the Coalition to Stop CPKC — indicates a loftier goal.
Mayors of the cities of Itasca, Barlett, Bensenville, Elgin, Hanover Park, Roselle, Schaumburg, and Wood Dale appeared at a press conference Tuesday, along with police and fire officials, to discuss their effort. The eight cities, all on the Metra Milwaukee West line shared with CP, could see an increase in freight traffic from three to 11 trains daily. They first indicated plans to join together to oppose the merger in December [see “Chicago suburbs express concern …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 16, 2021].
“We know we have our work cut out for us,” Itasca Mayor Jeff Pruyn said at the press conference, according to a report in the Daily Herald newspaper. “But we need to make sure our voices are heard.” Pruyn said the communities in the coalition include more than 300,000 residents and at least 50 grade crossings.
Pruyn said a single long train could block all five grade crossings in his community, impeding emergency vehicles. WLS-TV reports that Itasca Fire Department Chief John Buckley said about 48% of the department’s calls are on the opposite side of the tracks from the location of the fire station.
Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain described the city’s costs to mitigate the impact of increased rail traffic as “astronomical.” Others spoke of environmental, traffic, and safety concerns.
The mayors said the coalition will be filing its response to the merger with the Surface Transportation Board by the Feb. 28 deadline for comments.
Canadian Pacific representatives have met with the communities and have indicated their desire to be “good neighbors” in dealing with local issues.
News Flash!!! The Chicago Region is the Railroad Capital of the World! Metra is the second largest commuter rail operator in the US and Chicago is the National Hub for Amtrak. As I said in my oral and written testimony in favor of the CN-IC merger, being “shocked and surprised” at discovering railroad grade crossing delays in the Chicago region, is about as “shocking” as finding gambling in the back room of Rick’s Cafe Casablanca.
Perhaps they would prefer more trucks on their streets?
The merger is already approved, they are just looking for some money for whatever improvements they deem necessary.
I am just a tad cynical about this effort. There are many, many other towns with rail presence in the middle of their cities around Chicago and no one complains about getting rid of them. Even after UP took over the CNW, freight movements on the Geneva Sub steadily increased and while some towns instituted more fencing and worked with UP on more protections at crossings, it all worked out. The BNSF Racetrack see’s way more freight and commuter traffic than any other line in Chicago and they seem to cope just fine. My cynicism is rooted in the fact that political leaders use outright objection to somehow guarantee more money for abatement and remediation for their community. I just dont subscribe to that approach of working with your constituents and the railroads involved.
This is a very good point. But the railroads asking the public to put up with more pain in their lives when the public does not see the benefit is also a bit cynical and asking for trouble.
Well the “Coalition to Stop CPKC” gives off that righteous indignation vibe whereas “Million Dollar Money Grab” may seem greedy to the uninitiated.
If only the fore fathers of these towns had built on one side of the tracks. I guess building a bridge would be a big ask.
I do not want to see the merger blocked and doubt these concerns will do so. But lets be honest the railroad companies and the trains they run today are not the same as they were even a decade ago and certainly in the 80s when many more freights ran on this line. The PSR 2 to 3 mile trains that can block multiple crossings at a time, the frequent break down in service with trains actually stopping without the necessary number of employess in place to get them moving again quickly is a risk “when every minute counts” Many frequent posters have complained about the lack of service thanks to PSR and the fact that freight railroads are trying to externalize costs to government when they can — and adding another station and duplicate equipment and staff on the other side of the tracks certainly is such an example. As Matt Rose of BNSF, his fellow freight RRs needed to be careful in how they treat communities and hiding in the law that RRs are regulated by the Feds. Annoy enough communities on both sides of the political spectrum and you are bound to get re-regulation. As fewer and fewer of the public have interaction with employees and see directly the benefits of RRs, this risk runs higher.
Counterpoint… 3 2 or 3 mile long trains vs 10 5000 foot trains is technically no different, it’s the same volume of traffic in fewer trains. Without looking at a map I’d presume these towns are all relatively on flat land, which makes it much easier to run a 2 – 3 mile long train at speed(the BNSF does it in the Central Valley of CA, so don’t see why CPKC couldn’t do it in Illinois). Also, as the first person pointed out, build another station on the other side of the tracks, towns are stupid anyways if they serve both side of the track with only one emergency station for fire/EMT and one for police, and before you say cost, split the existing workforce between the two if you can’t afford to hire more(or maybe look at your town/city revenue to see where it goes and why you can’t afford more fire/police to staff two facilities). There objections are without merit and should be ignored by the STB, this is about what is good for the nation, not satisfying a bunch of whiny little towns(that would not exist if it wasn’t for the railroad in the first place).
Yes they are different!!!. If shorter trains stop they do not block as many crossings and even if they do not stop they take less time to clear crossings. If the trains were not different, the companies would not be running them.
In effect the companies are increasingly externalizing the cost of improving efficiency to governments and the public. Do this enough and railroads increase the risk of more regulation as the locals get restless and fed-up with just another large company affecting their daily life negatively.
This will have no impact on the merger and they can’t block it over concerns of a few extra trains over a mainline that was built to carry 5 times as many trains as projected.
” could see an increase in freight traffic from three to 11 trains daily.” Guess what back in the 80’s there were more than a 11 freights daily going through those towns with basically the same amount of passenger service. If they’re worried about train lengths than that should be their priority. Otherwise all they have to do is look at the history of the CN and EJ&E and see the result. The Village President of Hanover Park is on the METRA Board of Directors and he should know better than to sign on to this. As for Elgin whenever a train goes through the downtown it’s always clogged the area for a bit, been that way for 150 years there, including back in the 80’s.
This is my question- How many freights did the Milwaukee Road run on this, its Chicago-Omaha/Kansas City/Twin Cities main, back in the 70s to early 80s? Plus, MILW hosted the UP’s “City of ___” passenger trains in the 60s & 70s. Anyone under 45 won’t remember the traffic of the pre-bankruptcy CMStP&P.
Sick of these overprivileged NIMBYs. These mentally challenged crybabies should take a bicycle tour around their own counties! As my cat Burlington often points out, one of the most livable places on earth is the BNSF corridor Berwyn to Western Springs. Similar are Hinsdale to Downers Grove, Glenview to Lake Forest, Elmhurst etc. Trains run nose to tail right through the day, freights and passenger, right through the business districts and directly past expensive homes, apartments and condos. If frequent freights are such a problem, how is it that Glenview has seen such a boom in development?
Compare the urban activity – the sidewalk life and the wonderful restaurants – next to the tracks in LaGrange to many of America’s central cities. Freight trains don’t seem to be a problem, eh?
Which was there first, the railroad or your Lexus?
The thing is Charles, these towns and their elected officials saw Glenview, not long ago, stop the initiative to add 3 more Amtrak CHI-MKE roundtrips. The Newswire covered what I call “The Battle of Glenview” very well in at least two articles. ILDOT, Metra, and CP wanted to add a siding north of Tower A20 interlocking, I’m not sure where and how long its length. They knew that during peak Metra ops, there has to be a place to duck a freight off the main line. They also planned extension of the connection tracks to the UP Milwaukee Sub southwest so long CP trains destined for Bensenville, if stopped by the UP, would clear Tower A20. And Glenview residents went nuts even though no one’s private property was threatened with takings. And they were ready to put up $500,000 for legal fees to fight this. And ILDOT shriveled. Didn’t want to take the political heat. After all, it was only for some “stupid” passenger trains that “run empty” that this was for. Never mind that preCovid the 7 existing trains in each direction were running full. And the whole thing collapsed. What a disgrace! (Meanwhile IL State Toll Highway Authority, that always seems to have a bottomless well of $$$, was widening a 30 mile segment of I-294 and took, with I suspect minimal to no resistance, some 12-15 homes on the east side of Hinsdale.) That’s why, I strongly suspect, these west suburban counterparts see the railroad as someone they can beat.
Judging by parking at MKE last month, Hiawatha trains are now running empty. Between COVID lockdowns and the collapse of public safety, no one is going to Chi-Town any more. My last trip on the Hiawatha (or any train except the Boston – Quincy Red Line) was 23 months ago.
I was on the southbound Hiawatha in December and it was completely full.
In my community, the solution to EMS and fire department access was to establish a second garage on the other side of the railroad.