Feds write off helping with South Shore extension into Valparaiso

BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com

The federal Surface Transportation Board will not help the South Shore commuter rail line secure right of way from Canadian National Railway for a Munster to Valparaiso extension.

A draft environmental impact statement issued by the federal agency last week found the West Lake Corridor extension plan is not "a reasonably foreseeable future action."

The statement assessed the effects of Canadian National railroad's proposed purchase of the EJ&E Railway. Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District officials had hoped to use the federal proceeding as leverage in their negotiations with Canadian National.

"It would have been helpful if they had assessed it in the mix," NICTD General Manager Gerald Hanas said Wednesday. "These rail corridors are becoming extremely important and capacity is at a premium."

NICTD is conducting a feasibility study of the proposed extension, which would add 51 miles of track for extensions to Valparaiso and Lowell.

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., said this week the federal agency's assessment could not be further from the truth.

"By failing to acknowledge the potential of the South Shore Line expansion, the STB has shown how out of touch it is with the reality on the ground, and paved the way for CN to continue its callous behavior and further inconvenience the people of Northwest Indiana," Visclosky said.

The draft environmental impact statement pointed out NICTD has not committed to building the proposed extension. Also, no funding sources have been identified for further planning or implementation, according to the draft statement.

The Surface Transportation Board reached the opposite conclusion on Metra's STAR line, which it labeled a "reasonably foreseeable future action." The STAR Line would encircle Chicago, running on existing EJ&E tracks or rights of way from Hoffman Estates to Joliet.

The draft environmental impact statement said Metra envisions the project progressing toward a full federal funding agreement once an alternatives analysis is submitted later this year.

There also are plans for a STAR Line East segment that would terminate in Lynwood. That also would use EJ&E tracks or rights of way.

Hanas disagreed that the STAR line is further ahead in the competitive process for federal funds, pointing out that NICTD is in the midst of its own alternatives analysis.

NICTD continues to negotiate with Canadian National for building South Shore tracks on Canadian National right of way between Munster and Valparaiso, Hanas said. Canadian National previously had rejected sharing tracks with the South Shore.

"I think the environmental impact process has forced Canadian National to give us consideration for negotiating right of way," Hanas said.

For the STAR line, the draft environmental impact statement concluded that it would be possible for STAR Line and Canadian National trains to share EJ&E tracks with the construction of sidings and improvements.