Soon, a major portion of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. (EJ&E) will become a major cog in Canadian National Railway Co.’s Chicago-area operations. On Saturday, the Class I completed its acquisition of the EJ&E’s principal lines from U.S. Steel Corp. for $300 million.
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) approved the transaction on Dec. 24 and set an effective date of Jan. 23. CN will now begin a measured, step-by-step integration of the acquired lines, which encompass 198 miles of track encircling Chicago.
"With this closing, we can move forward to fulfill the promise of the EJ&E acquisition, which will help drive new efficiencies and operating improvements on CN's network,” said CN President and Chief Executive Offcier E. Hunter Harrison in a prepared statement. “Streamlined rail operations, along with reduced congestion resulting from the acquisition, are critically important to the Chicago region's economy and its continued role as one of America's most important transportation hubs."
CN will remain “fully committed” to mitigating the transaction’s environmental impacts in communities along the EJ&E, he said. The Class I has adopted a voluntary mitigation plan and reached mitigation agreements with 10 Illinois and Indiana communities.
The railroad also will ensure compliance with the various monitoring and reporting requirements imposed by the STB, including the appointment of a community liaison officer for municipalities along the EJ&E, CN officials said.
U.S. Steel’s Transtar subsidiary will retain railroad assets, equipment and employees that support the EJ&E’s Gary Works site in northwest Indiana and U.S. Steel’s operations. That segment of the EJ&E will become the Gary Railway.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
