DAVENPORT, Iowa — While three of the affected cities have already reached agreement with the railroad, an Iowa group is trying to organize opposition to Canadian Pacific’s merger with Kansas City Southern over the projected impact on community’s along the CP route following the Mississippi River.
KWQC-TV reports a Tuesday press conference organized by the individual who launched a “Stop The Train” Facebook page is asking residents, local governments, and community organizations to voice their opposition to the Surface Transportation Board against the merger.
The two railroads merger application projects freight traffic on the line will grow from eight to 22 trains daily. City governments in Davenport, Bettendorf, and Muscatine have agreed to deals worth as much as $16 million to mitigate impacts from the traffic growth [see “Davenport, Iowa, reaches agreement …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 3, 2022].
Davenport Aldeman Marion Meginnis told the Iowa Capital Dispatch that her approach to the agreement was “pragmatic … If we hadn’t done this, we would be sitting here today with maybe nothing — probably nothing.”
Opponents say the increased rail traffic has the potential to bring additional air, water, and noise pollution, and will disrupt access to riverfront attractions. John Gardner, former president of the Quad Cities Development Group, said civic groups should be asked why they are or are not “being important players in trying to rescue or save the riverfront from what would be a real significant barrier.”
CP spokesman Andy Cummings told the station the railroad was continuing to hold discussions with a number of communities. He noted that the draft environmental impact statement from the STB’s Office of Environmental Analysis concluded that “apart from train noise,” the merger would have little adverse environmental impact [see “STB draft review finds …,” News Wire, Aug. 5, 2022].
A similar opposition group formed in a group of Chicago suburbs, the Coalition to stop CPKC, is seeking up to $9.5 billion to mitigate merger impacts. CP and KCS have called that group’s conditions “untenable,” “overreaching,” and “infeasible” [see “CP, KCS dispute Metra merger contentions …,” News Wire, July 14, 2022.]
The STB has scheduled four public meetings on the environmental document, including one in Itasca, Ill., on Sept. 12, and one in Davenport on Sept. 13.
Share this article
