CN gets mixed results on first report card

The Canadian National Railway has made a good start communicating with towns along the EJ&E railroad, but there's room for improvement, a federal audit concludes, according to the Daily Herald. And, it says, municipalities that have not yet struck deals with CN are critical of how it's handling the transition.

The U.S. Surface
Transportation Board hired consultants HDR Engineering to survey towns to see
if CN was living up to conditions regulators imposed on the railroad when they
approved its purchase of the smaller EJ&E in 2008.

The merger will ease
freight congestion in Chicago by moving trains from CN’s crowded tracks to the
underused EJ&E, Canadian National argued and the STB agreed. The decision
angered towns along the EJ&E that feared extra trains would lead to more
noise, safety problems, traffic and environmental issues.

The consultants’ report
released this week states "CN has initiated extensive communication with
the affected communities" that in most instances "has been consistent
with the board’s conditions."

CN has signed mitigation
agreements with 21 towns along the EJ&E in which it funds fixes for noise
and safety concerns. Thirteen towns are holding out and of those, seven
responded to the survey.

On the question of train
delays, a majority of the seven towns said CN had not notified their police or
fire dispatchers when crossings were blocked by a train for more than 10
minutes. With the exception of Deer Park, most municipalities also said CN had
not given them an emergency response plan. But a majority noted CN had provided
their emergency dispatching departments with a monitor to see real-time train
locations.

HDR noted CN needs to
follow through on giving towns copies of emergency response plans, providing
more information on how it’s working with municipalities regarding quiet zones
and notifying authorities about train blockages.

This is the first of
several reports on CN’s performance.