(Train) Tracks of My Tears

By Margaret Lyons in News on Jul 28, 2008 8:02PM

Today's "learn something new every day" moment comes from a surprisingly interesting NPR story about the congestion nightmare that is Chicago's railways.

About 40 percent of America's freight passes through Chicago somehow. That amounts to 500 freight trains in and around Chicago each day. Throw in the 700 commuter trains going in and out of Chicago's downtown area — which share the rails with freight trains — and you've got a mess.

"It's a very frustrating and costly process, trying to make it through the city right now," said Karen Phillips, the vice president of government affairs for Canadian National Railway.

"We find that it can take one of our freight trains from the North Side to the South Side of the city — which is a distance of about 30 miles — as long as it can take our trains to get from Winnipeg to Chicago — which is over 800 miles."

Canadian National is trying to buy tracks that would avoid Chicago rail traffic completely. [NPR, photo by dpnash]