Granite City v. Commerce Com‪.‬

This is an appeal from a judgment of the circuit court of Douglas County, affirming an order entered on April 1, 1949, by the Illinois Commerce Commission, approving an application of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Company, hereinafter called appellee, to discontinue the operation of its passenger train between Chicago and St. Louis. The application was opposed by the city of Granite City and other towns and cities along the line of appellee's railroad, which cities are hereinafter referred to as appellants. It appears from the record that the appellee filed its petition with the commission on January 17, 1947, seeking to discontinue the operation of two trains, No. 21 and No. 22, between Villa Grove and the Illinois-Missouri State Line. During the hearing on this application, a compromise agreement was entered into between the parties, wherein the appellee promised and agreed, if permitted to discontinue trains 21 and 22, that it would substitute in place thereof a modern passenger train each way daily between Chicago and St. Louis with approved schedules and stops. The agreement was approved by the commission and the agreed order was entered by the commission on July 22, 1947, followed by a supplemental order on August 18, 1948, wherein the commission found that the operation of trains 23 and 24 (substituted as agreed for trains Nos. 21 and 22,) should be made permanent and should no longer be deemed experimental and that Nos. 21 and 22 should be permanently discontinued.