Canadian National Railway Company (CN) has entered into a voluntary mitigation agreement with the Village of Richton Park, Ill, located southwest of Chicago, addressing the municipality's concerns about CN's acquisition of the principal lines of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E). CN completed its EJ&E acquisition on January 31, 2009.

As per the terms of the agreement, CN will assist in the creation and maintenance of quiet zones, fund safety fencing, and provide emergency response personnel training and emergency communication improvements.

Gordon Trafton, CN senior vice-president for Southern Region, said: "Our pact with Richton Park marks the twelfth voluntary mitigation agreement signed by CN with communities affected by the EJ&E acquisition. We believe this demonstrates a clear, on-going commitment by CN to work closely with the cities, towns, and villages that will experience increased freight traffic as CN fully integrates EJ&E operations into its network over a three-year period.

"Our community liaison officer has recently reached out to all 33 affected communities and will continue to schedule face-to-face meetings with them all to ensure timely communication of implementation activities, including quiet zones and training for municipal responders at CN's expense."