Wayne builds case against EJ&E buyout
March 20, 2008
(DAILY HERALD) — Although the village of Wayne is a relatively small town, it is getting ready to make some big noise about the proposed buyout of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail line by the Canadian National Railroad.
Wayne residents and several political leaders gathered Wednesday to discuss potential effects of the acquisition, which has been meeting resistance from affected suburbs including West Chicago, Naperville, Warrenville, Aurora, and Barrington.
Elected officials, including newly elected Congressman Bill Foster, Congressional candidate Jim Oberweis, state Rep. Randy Ramey, DuPage County Board member Pam Rion, West Chicago Mayor Mike Kwasman, and St. Charles Mayor Don DeWitt were present for the meeting.
"They (CN Railroad) are coming to our town and they don't know what we are about, and they don't care," said Wayne Village President Eileen Phipps.
Currently, 4.4 trains pass through Wayne on the EJ&E tracks on a daily basis. If the buyout goes through, that number would increase to 24.4 trains per day in the first three years.
Congressman Bill Foster pointed out that CN's application to the federal Surface Transportation Board, which will make the final decision on whether the sale will go through, does not place limits on how much rail traffic will pass through the village beyond three years.
Foster, and eight other United States representatives including Melissa Bean, Jerry Costello, Donald Manzullo, Judy Biggert, Timothy Johnson, and Peter Roskam, have joined together in their opposition to the buyout, and have written a letter to the Surface Transportation Board urging officials not to approve it.
"The odds are certainly against us," Foster pointed out, saying that of the last 264 cases of this nature that have gone before the board, only one has been turned down.
"I intend to support you strongly on this because the arguments are pretty clear," he said.