CN announced today a voluntary mitigation agreement (VMA) with the Village of Park Forest, Ill., located approximately 30 miles south of downtown Chicago, addressing the municipality's environmental issues with CN's acquisition of the principal lines of the former Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJ). CN completed the acquisition on Jan. 31, 2009, and is running trains over the line.

Under the agreement, CN will provide funding for a range of measures, including traffic improvements and rail noise mitigation, quiet zones and fencing.

CN now has VMAs with 19 municipalities, more than half of the 33 villages and municipalities along the EJ in Illinois and Indiana.

Jim Vena, CN senior vice-president, Southern Region, said: "CN's voluntary mitigation agreement with Park Forest achieves important objectives for both parties and we hope it marks the beginning of a strong partnership. CN has stressed since announcing its transaction in 2007 the importance of mitigating the community impact of its EJ acquisition, and we continue to do that. CN will remain in close contact with all communities along the EJ as we move forward with the integration of the EJ into CN's rail network and complete planned infrastructure improvements."

CN expects that full integration of the CN and EJ networks will be accomplished within three years.

More information on the acquisition, including a map of the areas served by the EJ and CN, is available on CN's website, www.cn.ca.