A new rail line linking North America is set to send more freight trains through Chicago’s northwest suburbs.between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, with Chicago as part of the route linking Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.The deal’s backers said it’ll boost competition, reduce emission from trucks and boost the economy. But opponents in the Chicago area who have been fighting the deal for more than a year said the deal is dangerous.
All of the rail crossings in Itasca are at street level, so first responders have to cross the tracks to get to another part of town. To demonstrate, Schneidwind took WTTW News on a drive from the fire station to a house a quarter mile away that took just a minute and a half. That’s why Itasca’s Fire Protection District has been part of the Coalition to Stop CPKC, which includes DuPage County and a cluster of northwest suburban communities fighting the merger of the two rail companies — the merger that was just approved.
“This really felt like a David versus Goliath battle,” said U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who also opposed the merger. He noted Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern have each had trains carrying hazardous material derail over the last several years. “It is not a problem caused or the result of this merger,” said Martin Oberman, who previously chaired Metra’s board of directors. “In fact, to the extent hazardous materials can be moved on rail rather than on highways, we are better off the more of that traffic that is moved to rail.”
“Rivers give life,” said Gary Swick of Friends of the Fox River. “I don’t meet anybody that doesn’t think the river is a wonderful place and worthy of protection.”“Any time there’s more of something, it’s more likely to happen,” Swick said.
Merger boosting competition what a lie.