Railway Track & Structures - October 2008 - (Page 6)

I N D U S T R Y T O D AY Chicago region. For every community along the EJ&E line in the suburbs of Chicago that would see increased train traffic as a result of the transaction, nearly double that number along CN lines in inner Chicago would see decreased rail operations. In fact, roughly 60 communities inside the EJ&E arc would benefit from reduced train traffic as a result of the transaction. That would mean a better quality of life for residents of the Chicago region, with less pollution, fewer idling trains and fewer blocked crossings," Harrison said. Faced with a Dec. 31, 2008, deadline for completing its purchase of the EJ&E, CN last month proposed a reasonable compromise to the STB that would have allowed the agency to rule on the transportation merits of the EJ&E acquisition while completing its environmental review of the transaction. During this environmental review, CN proposed to maintain an "environmental status quo" by which CN would not shift any of its trains to the EJ&E until that review had been completed. But the agency last week denied CN’s petition. “It is truly unfortunate that the STB rejected CN's compromise solution given the impending deadline on our transaction," Harrison said. "The agency's decision - and continuing uncertainty about the timing of the STB's final decision on the transaction - leave us no option but to ask the court to compel a final STB decision on the transportation merits of the acquisition. We need the STB ruling soon so that we will be in a position to close the transaction before year-end.” Other, more complicated transactions reviewed by the STB have closed within a time period comparable to what CN seeks here. In the case of the $10-billion Conrail merger in 1997 - a transaction that traversed 24 states and the District of Columbia, 10,500 miles of rail lines and 2,070 grade crossings the STB finalized its environmental review in 11 months and issued a decision on the transaction two months later. By contrast, CN's $300-million transaction involves small portions of only two states, 158 miles of rail line and a total of 99 grade crossings. CTA’s repairs drive slow zones down to 10 percent Chicago Transit Authority President Ron Huberman said that slow zones on CTA’s rail system have been reduced to 10 percent. This past summer, the agency launched an ambitious plan to eliminate slow zones in the State Street and Dearborn subways and on the O’Hare branch of the Blue Line. A total of 141,577 feet of slow zones have been removed from a high point of 22.3 percent (263,526 feet). As of Sept. 2, 121,949 feet of slow zones–or 10 percent–remain on the rail system. The CTA rail system contains 1,181,106 feet of track, the equivalent of 224.1 miles. “When I came to the CTA last year, by far the biggest frustration customers had was with the slow commute times. The CTA made eliminating these slow zones its top priority, despite the lack of new capital funds,” said Huberman. “Through an aggressive construction 6 Railway Track & Structures October 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - October 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Railroads Building Solid Foundation for More Capacity with Crossties Safety in High Density Areas M/W Challenges: CN Places New Bridge in Only Six Hours Products and Literature People Calendar Website Directory Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - October 2008

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