CN finishes first link in Chicago break-out line, sweetens locals

MONTREAL-based Canadian National Railway (CN) has completed a US$5 million connection to link CN's track with the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company's (EJ&E) short line at Griffith, Indiana.

This is the break-out line to bypass congested Chicago traffic, providing speedy access to and from the US Midwest, south and eastern regions, particularly for Asian cargo landed at Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia, which already shaves three days off transit to Chicago compared to cargo landed in LA-Long Beach. Three trains daily currently use the new connection.

The link is the first of five such connections that are being developed to make better use of the short line that arcs westwards around Chicago, in a bid to avoid the heavily congested downtown railway network.

All of the continent's major railroads connect at Chicago and operate intermodal yards there, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce. Rail and road traffic growth has slowed so much that CN bought EJ&E in 2009 to develop a bypass route.

The Griffith connection "is a significant step towards our goal of fully utilising the EJ&E and providing improved rail fluidity in Chicago," said Jim Vena, senior vice-president for CN's southern region.

The Griffith connection "creates an efficient, direct route for CN freight trains moving between Kirk Yard in Gary, Indiana, and points farther east on the company's rail network," CN said.

The Journal of Commerce said that the work to integrate EJ&E into CN's railway network is part of a US$100 million investment CN is making in the short line's infrastructure. It is also developing new railway links at four points in Illinois, namely at Mundelein, Bartlett, Joliet and Matteson.

In a related development CN announced it has reached a voluntary mitigation agreement (VMA) with the village of New Lenox in Illinois, in connection with its acquisition of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company.

Under the terms of the VMA, the railway operator said in a statement it will provide New Lenox, which is located approximately 36 miles from downtown Chicago, "funding for the creation of a quiet zone, noise and safety mitigation, communications and emergency response training."

CN now has such deals with 80 per cent of the 33 communities along the EJ&E in Illinois and Indiana.
(Source:www.schednet.com)