Federal Restrictions On Railroads Sought By Alderman O'Shea

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Specific instances of how stalled CSX trains that have blocked at-grade crossings in Chicago's Mount Greenwood neighborhood and Evergreen Park negatively impacted life for local residents were shared on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday by 19th Ward Ald. Matt O'Shea, who was invited to testify during a House subcommittee hearing on rail crossing safety by Illinois 3rd District Congressman Dan Lipinski.

O'Shea's testimony ended with a proposal to enact legislative measures on the issue, claiming that local municipalities should not have the burden to protect residents when it comes to issues regarding the railroad.

"The current federal framework to regulate railroad operations has failed to protect our community from wide-ranging and potentially life-threatening effects directly caused by the manner in which CSX operates one line in particular," O'Shea said during his testimony, which can be found here.

The third-term alderman who represents all of the city's Beverly, Mount Greenwood and Morgan Park neighborhoods was referring to CSX's Elsdon Line, which runs parallel to Sacramento Avenue with five at-grade crossings in the 19th Ward and two others close by in Evergreen Park.

Since CSX was given approval to operate on the line by the federal Surface Transportation Board in 2012, O'Shea said the rail company has violated a number of agreements with the agency that sets conditions on railroads.

Among them, O'Shea said, is that CSX has yet to provide Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park with access to any camera devices that could help them predict rail crossing movement on 95th Street.

"One of the first indications that all was not right on the Elsdon Line beginning in 2013 was the emergence of reports that emergency response vehicles were being blocked by slow or stopped trains, or by malfunctioning gates," O'Shea said. "When severely injured patients cannot get to the hospital, lives are literally at risk."

The alderman shared stories of multiple schoolchildren climbing through a stopped train to get to school on time, one person who could not get to Little Company of Mary to say goodbye to her dying grandfather in time, several instances of missed medical appointments, flights and work assignments due to stalled trains and first responders not being able to respond to an emergency.

While a number of those issues have been addressed between CSX and the federal agency through the initiative of local officials, O'Shea said "existing federal regulation does not adequately protect communities from the effects of blocked at-grade crossings and malfunctioning crossing gates" in proposing a few "straightforward measures" Congress could enact that he says will improve safety at the crossings.

Verbatim, he said the following requirements should be made at the federal level:

• Require moving trains to clear at-grade crossings in three minutes or less.
• If a train blocks an at-grade crossing for 10 minutes or more – whether the train is stopped or in motion – impose fines for every minute a blockage persists at each crossing.