WASHINGTON (AP) – (Oct. 24, 2006) A monkey wrench has been thrown into plans to expand Amtrak service in Illinois next week.
Members of Illinois’ congressional delegation are accusing the Canadian National Railway of violating an agreement with Amtrak.
The lawmakers say they were recently notified Canadian National will not allow one of the additional round trips between Chicago and St. Louis via Joliet. It is also threatening to withhold access to the Carbondale route, and may seek to terminate all the added trains in Illinois after one year.
The improved Amtrak service was to be made possible in part by a bigger state subsidy.
The money was intended to support seven round-trip trains from Chicago to St. Louis, Carbondale and Quincy, up from three trains now.
A spokesman for Canadian National was not immediately available for comment today.
My note: Jeez, it’s not like those are the busiest routes in Illinois these days. On either main, you can sit and wait for hours and never see a train, especially on the St. Louis route (former GM&O, Chicago & Alton and MP). CN trackage comes out of Downtown, but ends at Joliet and it’s UP the rest of the way to St. Louis.
Here is an update on the AP report with a comment from CN.
"Jim Kvedaras, CN’s senior manager for U.S. public and governmental affairs in Homewood, Ill., said late Tuesday the company is in negotiations with Amtrak “right now” regarding expanding Amtrak service on CN lines to Carbondale and Joliet.
“As these are current and ongoing discussions, CN does not feel it appropriate to publicly discuss more,” he added."
Do you suppose CN thought they could hold this up and nobody would notice?
This is just yet another way CN is stupid. They wait until a week before the new service starts and THEN they say they want it terminated? CN is more stupid then any of the other class ones combined. They barely even use the route except for a local. The rest is Amtrak, Metra, and BNSF interchange trains on the Joliet line.
It may be a bit late, but couldn’t they route the train on the old Rock Island route to Joliet? Nothing runs on there except a few Metra trains a day. Amtrak could probably pick up some additional ridership with a few stops along the densely populated areas on the Rock, e.g. Beverly, Oak Forest, Tinley Park, as opposed to the few towns along the old Alton.
Amtrak could easily use the Rock Island; everything is in place at Englewood. All they have to do is lay the track, the bridge is already in. Back in the late sixty’s early seventies the RI commuter service “was” going to union depot but never did, I think that Union depot rethought it and felt it could not handle all the trains that would be there. I know the RI wanted out of the LaSalle St. depot bad, it was costly and it was valuable property. The trick is how to get on the UP at Joliet without making a reverse move. Plus they would have to install another crossover.
It would seem that the agreements were in place, signed sealed and delivered to cover the new service.
For Immediate Release
October 24, 2006
Durbin, Colleagues Say Canadian National Railway Must Honor its
Agreements with Amtrak
[Chicago, IL] In a letter spearheaded by U.S. Senator Dick
Durbin (D-
IL), members of the Illinois Congressional delegation today called on
Canadian National Railway Company (CN) to honor its agreements with
Amtrak. Under the agreement finalized in July and set to go into effect on
October 30, 2006, CN would grant Amtrak access along routes that begin in
Chicago and end in St. Louis and Carbondale in order to meet growing
ridership demand.
“We were notified last week that CN will no longer agree to allow one of the
additional roundtrips to St. Louis via Joliet, is threatening to withhold
access
to the Carbondale route, and may seek to terminate all of the newly added
trains in Illinois after just one year. Such an action would violate the
agreement between CN and Amtrak,” the members wrote in a letter to E.
Hunter Harrison, CN’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
Due to increased ridership, Illinois doubled its Amtrak operating subsidies
from $12 to $24 million to "allow the State to operate two more roundtrip
trains
on its Chicago to St. Louis route, and one more roundtrip train on its
Chicago
to Carbondale route… On behalf of the State of Illinois, Amtrak negotiated an
agreement with CN along CN’s 37 m
I seem to recall that the AT&SF former SW Chief route had its track terminated just east of the point where the BNSF now enters Corwyth Yard and so a direct routing of that type is now impossible, unless U.P. allows a move from CUS to the Corwyth area on thier trackage along I55 in the same area.
I was thinking the same thing. That was one of the reasons that the Santa Fe wanted to move the SW Chief off its line east of Galesburg. The track past Corwoth was only used by Amtrak and the SF did not want to have to maintain it anymore.
I don’t believe so. The ATSF route runs along the north side of I-55 until just east of Pulaski, and then crosses over the interstate, heading south into Corwith Yard. However, if you don’t branch off into the yard, the line continues east along the north side of I-55 until it joins with the CN (IC) near Ashland Ave.
The CN (IC) continues to the 21st Street diamond, where it branches off across the 21st Street lift bridge and then north into Union Station. The CN line continues east, merging with the St. Charles Air line at the 16th Street crossing (w/ the Metra Rock Island).
That said, the line is definitely busy most of the day, at least to Corwith. On the east side of the yard, there are often NS trains waiting to enter the yard as well.
Sure they could. The Amtrak ‘City of New Orleans’ uses the St. Charles Air Line to cross over the Chicago River to connect to the CN (IC) heading south. Heading east on the Air Line at the 16th St. Crossing, there a connection to the RI heading south.
Well, temporarily, maybe. But Mayor Daley has been pushing hard for the last few years to abandon the St. Charles Air Line as it is “holding up development” in the south Loop. Maybe one dark night he’ll send in the same bulldozers he used to tear up Meigs Field. [(-D]
Copley News Service item on the UTU site adds this to the story: “A source requesting anonymity said CN officials contend that a company representative who approved the deal did not have the authority to do so.”
The Air Line will be abandoned when the CREATE Project is complete. One of the aspects of the project is routing the CN (IC) to the NS near the Chicago Skyway, eliminating the need for the Air Line.
Sounds like CN is seeking a convenient scapegoat to deflect blame following a poor decision, the decision to renege. They’re expecting us to believe ONE employee made the expand-Amtrak frequency decision – which affects TWO mainlines – without the knowledge of anyone else at CN? That’s BS. This is pure spin, concocted when the decision to back out of the agreement blew up in CN’s face with negative publicity. How childish.