Dear Neighbors,

I hope this message finds you safe and well. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please contact my office by calling (847) 413-1959, emailing me at [email protected], or sending a message through my website at https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/contact/email. For more frequent updates, I encourage you to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

On Wednesday, I held a press conference with Metra CEO Jim Derwinski, COO Kevin McCann, and Hanover Park Mayor Rodney Craig to highlight how the proposed merger between Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) will exacerbate pre-existing delays on Metra that result from CP freight interference today. I also released the findings of a new memo from my office detailing the frequency and duration of delays caused by freight interference on Metra’s Milwaukee District-West (MD-W) line.

Overall, my memo identified three key new findings. First, we found that CP’s dispatching practices and freight traffic have already been causing regular delays to Metra trains, even during peak commuting times. Second, we found that that the total annual frequency of delays caused by freight interference on the MD-W line almost tripled between 2017-2021, and disproportionately more of these delays occurred during peak periods, when these delays grew to be almost six times more frequent. Finally, we found that the total annual duration of delays caused by freight interference on the MD-W line almost tripled between 2017-2021, and peak periods were disproportionately negatively affected again. In fact, on average, approximately 45% of delays caused by CP’s freight interference lasted for more than 10 minutes. Although Metra owns the rail lines,  CP has dispatching rights on Metra’s lines, and therefore can control whether freight trains or commuter trains receive preference in the flow of traffic, meaning that freight interference with Metra trains isn’t simply because CP has freight trains running on the same tracks, it’s because CP is putting its own freight trains ahead of Metra commuters trains.

Commuters across our region depend on Metra for reliable and on-time service, but CP’s dispatching practices have clearly been making the system slower and less dependable. If the proposed merger between CP and KCS proceeds, these disruptions will only grow worse, as Metra projects that the increase in freight traffic from the merger would cause an increase in commuter delays of nearly 300 percent. In the face of such delays, the number of commuters driving to work would inevitably increase, further weakening the Metra system while exacerbating congestion and delays across our roads and highways. That’s why I have called upon the Surface Transportation Board (STB), the federal entity charged with approving or rejecting the merger, to launch a full review of CP’s dispatching practices and how it affects Metra delays and services. Additionally, I’m urging the  STB to conduct a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for our region, the largest metropolitan area affected by the proposed merger, to evaluate its broader impact on our communities.