With the acquisition of the main lines of the EJ&E - Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company – by the Canadian National (CN) Railway coming through on Sunday, the Chicago region can look forward to a better-organized rail system and environmental benefits.

The official procedure of the transaction was completed after it was duly approved by the STB - Surface Transportation Board – decision in December last year.

As a result of the acquisition, EJ&E’s 198 miles of track will gradually be integrated with CN, thereby ensuring a safe and competent amalgamation of both the rails. The EJ&E goes around the City of Chicago from Waukegan to Joliet and to Gary - on the north, west and southeast respectively - and then to South Chicago.

Since the acquisition will take cargo traffic off congested inner railroad lines in the Chicago periphery, the Chicago-area officials are more than delighted with the idea.

However, people residing in the communities along the rail route have expressed their concern about the safety aspect, due to the likely increase in traffic. In the Naperville area alone, the train traffic would increase from 15.7 trains a day to 42.3 trains a day!

In the opinion of E. Hunter Harrison, CEO and president of CN, the purchase would bring a turnaround for the better. Harrison said: “Streamlined rail operations are critically important to the Chicago region’s economy and its continued role as one of America’s most important transportation hubs.”