In the wake of comments made by Canadian National Railway’s Chief Executive Officer, Hunter Harrison this week, Freightscene.com has contacted Canada’s largest rail freight company to clarify the companies position on the intended acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E).

Speaking to Mark Hallman, the Public Affairs Officer from Canadian  National, Freightscene.com has learned that that despite acknowledged opposition to the Canadian national’s proposed acquisition of EJ&E, the company intends to proceed with the transaction and see the acquisition come to fruition by years end.  However Canadian National have qualified the intention to proceed by saying that the company may look to other options other than EJ&E should circumstances such as mitigation costs and time delays prove to be excessive.  Other options include looking into alternatives to EJ&E and using the funds set aside for the EJ&E acquisition for those purposes.

Speaking to the opposition that Canadian National (CN) has come up against in trying to acquire EJ&E Railway, the company says that it has heard a number of comments on the proposed transaction and does acknowlege the opposition.  The company says that it is working with local communities to address issues and find means by way the communities and CN can mitigate any impact from the acquisition of EJ&E.  The company adding that there are significant environmental benefits that can emerge from the proposed transaction for the greater Chicago area.

A draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed acquisition is expected shortly from the Surface Transportation Board, which, according to CN, will set out various issues and discuss various mitigation measures which the company hopes will be able to advance discussions with local communities, so that CN will be able to move forward with the transaction.  Canadian National believes that the successful completion of the EJ&E transaction is important, not only as the demand for rail freight increases amongst a requirement for more fuel efficient transport, but also as the United States needs to progressively increase rail infrastructure to meet the increase in demand.

When asked specifically about the suggested four-fold increase in rail traffic communities could expect should the EJ&E transaction proceed, CN said that the company has already indicated that it will commit $40 million dollars to mitigate some of the environmental impacts of the increase in rail traffic.  In addition to the commitment from CN to mitigate the impact from any increase in rail traffic, the company points out that existing railway lines in the western Chicago suburban areas, already experience movements that far exceed the number of trains that Canadian National would be moving over the EJ&E lines.  Indeed Public Affairs Officer Mark Hallman says that in some cases, Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Lines move over one-hundred trains per day on the existing rail lines in the area, a figure that CN says the company would not come close too,  even on the most intensively utilized EJ&E lines.

Should the transaction be completed, CN indicates that the EJ&E lines would see just about all the types of cargo and freight that Canadian National moves today in the United States and specifically the Chicago area.  Those goods include containerised and intermodal goods, automotive products, forest products as well as chemical and petroleum products. 

Source: Canadian National Railroad                                                          With many thanks to: Mark Hallman - CN Public Affairs

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