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Chalk up voluntary mitigation agreement No. 18 for CN and its Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway (EJ&E) integration plan. Yesterday, the Class I announced it forged a pact with the village of Hawthorn Woods, Ill., that addresses the municipality's environmental concerns.

The agreement requires CN to maintain an existing quiet zone, mitigate noise, train emergency responders, and implement pedestrian crossing protection measures and traffic signals.

CN now has agreements in place with more than half of the 33 villages and municipalities along the EJ&E’s lines in Illinois and Indiana. The Class I acquired the Chicago-area lines in January.

CN expects to integrate the lines into its network within three years. Any integration changes will be communicated “in a timely manner” to communities affected by the plan, CN officials said in a prepared statement.

For more information on the EJ&E integration and CN’s efforts to reach mitigation agreements with local communities, follow this link to read the cover story (“Mitigating Circumstances”) in Progressive Railroading’s August issue.