Comment EI-31339
Received or sent (printed as 12/2/2021)
As Mayor of the City of Wood Dale, a suburb of Chicago with two railroad tracks that traverse three different crossings through our town, I am writing you with serious concerns about the impact of the merger of Canadian Pacific Railway with Kansas City Southern Railway. After review of the proposed merger and the projected impacts that this merger will have on our community, it is evident that the burdens placed on our residents, commuters, and public safety response times will likely outweigh the benefits cited by the companies in this merger. Currently, there are approximately 75 trains that pass through our community each day, which includes commuter and freight trains. The documents supporting this merger show that Wood Dale would see an increase in freight trains of over 50 percent per day, increasing from an average of 16 trains per day to 24 trains per day. At an average closure of 6 minutes per 8,500-foot-long train at 40 miles per hour, this would result in another 48 minutes of road closures that separate our town in half, slowing or significantly delaying response to emergency situations. In addition to the public safety concerns, our residents who live near the tracks will experience a significant increase in noise pollution at all times of the day. Due to our proximity to the Bensenville railyard, there are concerns of substantial slowdowns or complete stoppages of trains due to this volume. While the proposed merger cites some environmental benefits such as reduced truck traffic, this merger would increase the shipping of hazardous cargo from states that produce these items that are not currently operating under this rail system. The impact of an accident involving hazardous cargo would far outweigh any environmental benefits achieved in the short-term. For these reasons, I respectfully request that the Surface Transportation Board reject this proposed merger until these concerns can be mitigated for our residents. Respectfully, Annunziato Pulice
Submitted by: Mayor Annunziato Pulice · City of Wood Dale · Wood Dale, IL
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-36500/comment/EI-31339
File docketyard.org/document/a3ba54b150ea1bb17df34bbed4d4c9c611e9731a9e45739b51e6a2569a5ff824.pdf · back to the docket sheet