CHICAGO — Canadian National has won federal regulatory approval to double track more than four miles of its former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern route near Elgin, Ill., a project the railroad says will eliminate a chokepoint and improve the flow of rail traffic in and around Chicago.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit for CN, acting under its Wisconsin Central Limited Railroad subsidiary, to build the additional main line track on the Leithton subdivision from Shoe Factory Road to Spaulding Road, between the village of Hoffman Estates and the city of Elgin, Ill.
In a June 17 letter to Wisconsin Central, the Army Corps said the project was authorized under the U.S. Clean Water Act. The permit for the project was necessary because of the potential impact on wetlands, The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency also notified the railroad that the project would be completed without causing water pollution “provided the project is carefully planned and supervised.”
According to a project analysis submitted by Wisconsin Central, the project calls for 4.27 miles of newly constructed track; grading and new drainage infrastructure; widening of the bridge over a creek; culvert extensions; and some waterway relocation.
The second track will improve the overall existing CN network and existing local commuter train conflicts and delays, the analysis said. The Leithton subdivision is “one of the primary north-south main line tracks along the WCL corridor that transports vital customer rail traffic between Winnipeg, Canada and Chicago,” the analysis noted.
The document said CN’s Chicagoland network, on the former EJ&E, is predominantly a single main track. “This means that when two trains meet each other one must pull to the side and idle while waiting for another train to pass,” the analysis said. Completion of the project will help achieve the goal of improved fluidity and create “what is in essence a passing lane for when two trains meet.”
The analysis said the industry projects that over the next 30 years freight volumes shipped from Illinois will increase by 30 percent and rail shipments passing through Illinois will increase by 25 percent. “Therefore, it is critical that the major railroads be permitted and encouraged to invest in their existing networks for the continued safe, efficient, and fluid movement of trains and the consumer goods that they carry,” the analysis said.
Nevertheless, the analysis also noted that the forecast capacity for 2020 along the Leithton subdivision has been revised down from nine trains per day to 4-5 trains per day. “It is critical to understand that more trains on the Leithton Sub will be a reality regardless of this project’s future. What the project allows for is that growth to occur with less negative consequences for our neighbors and the communities we pass through,” the analysis said.
The report also cited conflicts with the approximately 58 Metra trains and approximately 20 CN trains that cross the same intersection each day. “Those blockages cause trains to idle in residential neighborhoods where our rail line and right of way have existed since 1889, and curtail our ability to serve our customers in the most efficient manner possible,” it stated.
Wisconsin Central submitted its permit application in December 2018. The approval process stretched throughout 2019 and the first half of this year. Homeowners who live along the track raised objections to the project, saying double-tracking would bring excessive noise and vibrations, and promote idling of trains. Local officials and members of Congress also raised objections and concerns. [See “Chicago suburb seeking to block CN double-tracking project,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 22, 2019].
According to a mitigation plan submitted by Wisconsin Central, the railroad must provide two trees to each of 43 residential property owners along the track. These will replace trees in the railroad right-of-way. that will be removed.
A spokesman for CN on Wednesday acknowledged the permit’s approval and said the railroad was still finalizing the project’s timeline.
The Surface Transportation Board approved CN’s acquisition of the former EJ&E line in 2009 after a contentious battle with the communities along the 198-mile line. CN’s goal was to use the line to circumvent Chicago’s notoriously jammed hub, which experiences an estimated 500 freight and 800 passenger train movements each day.
