Information On The September 12th Community Meeting On The Proposed Canadian Pacific-Kansas City Southern Railway Merger That Would Triple Rail Traffic

On Monday, September 12th, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) will be holding a public meeting at the Westin Chicago Northwest in Itasca on their draft review of the controversial merger proposal between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railways. While the STB will be holding an "open house" from 6:00pm-6:45pm followed by a brief presentation from the agency, the heart of the meeting will be for public comment, which will begin at 7:00pm. I'll be delivering the opening remarks from our community in opposing the merger as it's currently proposed because of the increased traffic delays, safety risks, environmental degradation, and other community impacts the proposal would have on our region.

As things stand, this merger would more than triple freight rail traffic between Bensenville and Elgin while providing no meaningful mitigation or relief to local communities for the negative consequences that rail activity will have in terms of public safety, noise increases, environmental impacts, and the timely function of local Metra service. So far, we have received no proposals that seriously address the needs of our constituents, and that's why I am leading a coalition of Illinois leaders in calling on the Surface Transportation Board to heed the very real concerns of the families who will live with the consequences of the Board's decision on this proposed merger.

In July, Senator Dick Durbin and I sent a letter with Senator Tammy Duckworth and Congresswoman Marie Newman to the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, opposing the merger as currently proposed and expressing these concerns about the impact of the $31 billion merger on our communities. You can read that letter here.