By Times of Northwest Indiana Staff and Wire Reports
WASHINGTON, D.C. | A measure gaining bipartisan support in Congress could threaten Canadian National Railway's plan to buy the EJ&E Railway line, the company's chairman and CEO said Tuesday.
Under the legislation, CN's proposed purchase would be affected retroactively, requiring the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to reject the plan if any adverse impacts on safety and on affected communities are found to outweigh transportation benefits.
Hunter Harrison, testifying before the House Transportation Committee, said no good public purpose would be served by making the bill cover the proposed $300 million sale.
The CN executive said the measure, sponsored by Committee Chairman James Oberstar of Minnesota, by virtue of delay alone, could kill the deal to buy the 200-mile line that swings around Chicago to a string of Northwest Indiana communities.
"This deal could go dead on this, and we could spend $50 million or $75 million for nothing," Harrison said.
CN would never have structured the transaction as it is now if it had known the legislation could be passed and be retroactive -- because the deal stands to run out at the end of the year, Harrison said.
About a third of the bill's 20 co-sponsors are Illinois and Indiana lawmakers, primarily those with constituents who would be most affected by the new rail traffic.
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., testified Tuesday in favor of the Taking Responsible Action for Community Safety Act.
Visclosky told the congressional committee it is time to "level the playing field" between public interests and business interests when it comes to rail mergers.
"The moves by these companies to improve their bottom line trump the hard work of policy makers at all levels of government when it comes to defining and addressing the nation's transportation investment needs," Visclosky said.
Visclosky's testimony preceded today's federal Surface Transportation Board hearing in Gary regarding CN's plan to buy the EJ&E. That plan would result in a threefold increase in the number of trains running through many suburban communities in the region.
The Surface Transportation Board on Monday dealt CN a major setback by refusing its request to speed up approval of that deal. In August, CN had asked the board to make a decision regarding its proposed purchase of the EJ&E by Oct. 15. The railroad said if the board approved the purchase, it would not start running trains on the EJ&E line until the environmental review was finished.
In his testimony, Harrison addressed arguments from opponents that delays at points where the EJ&E line crosses roads could amount to 10 minutes or more. He said that for a typical train of about 7,000 feet in length and traveling about 40 mph, there would only be a delay of about two minutes.
"That's a long traffic light," he said.
Also testifying at the hearing were John Swanson, executive director of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, and Mark Yagelski, chairman of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District.
Griffith Town Councilman Stan Dobosz attended the hearing. Griffith would be one of the communities most heavily affected by CN's plan, with rail traffic through the town tripling.
Trains from CN's main line also would turn north in Griffith to access Gary's Kirk Yards, where the railroad plans to locate a national hub for redirecting rail shipments.