I grew up in South Bend, and we would take the South Shore often for trips to Chicago. Haven't been able to ride it since the double track project completed, but glad to see it has improved. Now if only the rest of the state can get on board with transit....RIP Hoosier State train.
Rest of the state? My guy it has transit because it's apart of chicago and considered an important commuter area, as in many from South bend, Gary, etc, come to chicago for work. It being in Indiana dosent matter, Chicagoland stretches into Indiana and Wisconsin.
Thanks for highlighting this! Hoping to see everyone at the Monon Corridor opening and I can't wait for future service expansions that have been discussed, but not yet planned to Valpo and Lowell!
@@adamknott7830 No Elkhart extension officially planned ... just mentioned as a potential future plan. When mentioned the problem of getting a ROW from South Bend to Elkhart was the challenge (land next to the NS alignment between the two cities). There are several challenges to overcome to cover those ~20 miles. NICTD is open to having a terminal downtown South Bend but the current focus is to update the airport station which will immediately cut 15+ minutes off of the trip to Michigan City and beyond.
@@traviskittehwe don’t associate with Indiana , we just call the region , northwest Indiana is just an extension of the Chicago metro area, not like that is anything to be proud of
@@adamknott7830 I think a separate system that connects South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, and Goshen could be cool if the money were there to build it and operate it at useful frequencies with useful connecting bus lines. But that’d be too much to ask of the Indiana state gov and others
I live in Indianapolis, and have used the South shore train to visit Chicago. Parking for free in Hammond and taking the train to downtown Chicago is so great! ❤
I took the South Shore Line last month with a group of friends to visit Indiana Dune State Park. The double tracking allowed us to do this because of the increased speeds and frequencies. We never felt rushed to hustle to make our train. One downside, however, is that our return train to Chicago was 20 minutes late. I’m not sure how it can be that late given the relative grade separation. We got even further delayed by the time we made it back to Chicago. Perhaps it was the heat (that day had a high in the low 90s). Whatever the reason, there was no communication about it. Platform displays told us the train was delayed but didn’t tell us when it would be there. This is low hanging fruit to improve on.
Ya, the SSL has had a lil bit of trouble around the time you rode it relating to keeping trains on time. The company jumped the gun with adding more frequent trains since the double tracking project was complete, but they were still going through some learning bumps with the new schedule. It's improved a lot more now, with delays getting reduced from 20+ mins average to around 5 mins average. Still, delays like that in the first couple months of service really impact ridership perception.
Just rode this line for the first time while visiting Chicago. Was very cool to take transit to a national park. I wish they would make a downtown terminus in South Bend tho
They are planning to build a terminus in Downtown South Bend or at the Western side of the airport because the route the line currently takes to the airport is slow and circuitous with tight curves. There a bus from the airport to the Amtrak Station, downtown, Notre Dame and University Park Mall every 30 minutes.
Would be nice if the South Shore and Metra Electric could form a frequent metro style service with a train every few minuets at peak from Kensington north (even if South Shore only goes to Gary and the ME Mainline to Homewood). Also the Dyer branch should run into the city all day since its just that close. If there are Amtrak trains to Valparaiso again, I can see why they would make that peak only
I'm a South Bend native myself and still remember when the Big Orange cars came all the way downtown to the station at Michigan and LaSalle Sts. The terminus in South Bend was initially moved to the west side of town near Bendix in 1970. Amtrak still uses this station today. The South Shore moved its terminus to the airport later. New cars were ordered in 1980-ish and were phased in during 1982-83. The last of the Big Orange cars were retired in September of 1983. My late aunt remembered that when my mother's family arrived in South Bend in 1949, South Shore trains ran to Chicago every hour. You didn't even need a timetable - if you missed a train, there would be another one.
@@adamknott7830 The sharp decline of traffic in and out of South Bend prompted the railroad to move its terminus to the west side of town. There has been talk of running the line to Union Station.
I just arrived back today from a weekend trip to the Indiana Dunes. Noticed there was a train station when driving into the park. I’m never driving again after hearing about this gem! Great and informative vid - thanks!!!
I hope they manage to bring the trains to the city's downtown again. At least South Bend is small enough that a bus ride from the airport to downtown only takes around 20 minutes, but it would be better to be close to where all the bus lines converge rather than off on the far end of one of them.
the terminal should be in downtown south bend. i do not support that airport. have a downtown station and a west side park and ride maybe at pine and ardmore trail
Problem would be parking which would mean also securing the parking. The bonus about the station at the airport is they have secured paid parking where you can park your car and get on the train. South Bend years ago had ambition of moving the Amtrak station from its current location to downtown where the Transpo bus line does transfers. They actually built the building across the street from the old Union Station building. But again secured parking is an issue if you arrive by car to the station. The fight that's happening with South Shore is the path they want to take to reroute to the airport's other side would take a good chunk of houses and the residents are resisting the plan.
At one time this train used to stop at 115th and Kensington. When i moved to the south side in 93 when i was twelve i stayed less than 2 blocks away east of Cottage Grove Avenue where the former IC&G (now CN) runs. Of course now i'm a conductor for BNSF (formerly of UPRR). I saw someone's comment that they should run it to Elkhart, that wouldn't be a bad idea. But they stopped service at Kensington from what i heard that Metra and CN were having disputes because the South Shore line have to use CN's crossovers to get on their own line. Don't know how true this story is but i heard it from 4 people i know that work on the CN.
Banning light rail might be a blessing in disguise for the future, since it might push eventually push them to build a metro system instead. Kind of like the opposite of what happened in LA, where banning metros pushed them to build light rail instead.
The South Shore has always been an incredible and underrated value. We are lucky in South Bend to have have the rail and air connections we have for a city our size. Love it here. :)
Very good video! I hear the Miller Station is very nice! I see the progress on the West Lake portion coming along. Funny thing is that the terminus in Dyer is close to the Amtrak line.
I'm a fan of the line and have a few models, I enjoyed riding when I visited Chicago recently. I do wish they chose to extend it back to downtown South Bend instead of the airport realignment, though the airport route does raise a possibility of extending the line to Notre Dame.
I live near the South Shore Line. I'd like to see it stop at the South Bend Airport and continue on to South Bend Union Station, which is being converted back to Amtrak use again. There is also the possibility that the St. Charles AirLine/ CrossRail Chicago project could give access to Chicago Union Station, although that might only be for Amtrak or HSR. The SSL's independence from Amtrak and local management is probably the biggest reason it has survived in this state. It is in many ways an argument for Amtrak to be broken up and returned to profitable passenger operations in this part of the country.
I'm old enough to remember the old orange and maroon cars. As a kid, I remember riding between Hammond and downtown Chicago. I rode those back in the late Fifties and early Sixties. It couldn't have happened back then, since the Monon was still operating, but the West Lake corridor would have been nice since we lived in Lansing, IL, a town right the state line. It would have saved the drive into Hammond.
My mother rode the south shore to Chicago from Chesterton every day when she went to college! This is an amazing amenity that Indiana should harness, and repeat elsewhere!
A minor correction: the eastern terminus of the line was not moved immediately from downtown South Bend to the airport. In between times, it terminated at Bendix Drive on the west side. Not very convenient at all, but there were cabs generally waiting to take you where you wanted to go from there. I rode the South Shore a few times in the early 1980s. Both the old Insull-era orange cars and the new cars shortly after they were put into service.
Why am I watching a video about a railway in Indiana, and thoroughly enjoying it?! YT's random recommendations pay off, it seems! There's a part where you mention speeding things up by doubling the tracks because the single line causes hold-ups, and that is something that's familiar to me where I am as the railway line serving my area should really have been doubled decades ago to increase frequency.
The RTA has a rule that SSL can't pick up there lest it bleed their ridership on the MED. Rep Buckner and other officials have petitioned the RTA to change the archaic policy.
@@willhazen9507 The Chicago stops are a convenience for Indiana passengers. There are plenty of Metra trains to provide service along the Metra line. Each one of those stops adds delay to the NICTD service and would require NICTD to integrate with Metra ticketing. While some passengers would see a benefit, there would be no benefit to NICTD and most of NICTD's passengers who want to get downtown (11th/Van Buren/Millennium) not other stops. (The South Shore does make special stops for Soldier Field and McCormick Place events - serving Indiana passengers.)
They used to have a similar policy on the Metro-North Railroad in New York. You were not allowed to ride the New Haven line between Grand Central and 125th Street, but had to ride the Harlem line. I believe they have recently ended that policy.
It's good to see America's last interurban is being rebuilt.the South shore line will have a lot in the Indiana towns along the remodeled line. If only this had happen with the North shoreline we would be enjoying that line. Thank you South Shore freight and NITDC for helping this line to survive in 2024. Rip in North Shore line.
People pronounce “NICTD” not by saying it’s letters but by pronouncing it as a word (either consonant-dropping the “t” or “d”) “Nick tee” or “Nick dee”
I grew up in Lansing IL and Munster IN and rode the South Shore downtown a number of times in the 1970s. We now live down in St. John, 8 miles south of Munster. I've only been on the South Shore once in the past 35 years to chaperon a group of Scouts headed to the planetarium, because it was a bit cheaper for that big group than using the Metra Electric Line from University Park, IL. The distance from St. John to either the South Shore East Chicago station or the Metra UP station is the same (just under 14 miles) but it takes less time to reach the Metra station, and Metra has historically been much more reliable than the South Shore. Even though the Dyer station on the extension is 6 miles closer, the traffic through Dyer in the morning is quite heavy, and it often takes just as long to reach that spot now as it does to reach the UP Metra station. Lots of us wonder how successful the extension will prove to be due to that congestion.
Hopefully NICTD can extend to St John and Lowell in the future. It won't be soon. I expect that the primary draw will be from Munster and Dyer residents that don't want to fight the traffic in Illinois. Hammond residents will have neighborhood stations instead of needing to use the old Hammond station. Being within a mile of the Illinois state line I expect some residents will go east to the new line but yes, there are other Illinois options available.
Really cool look at the SSL! I've never ridden it, but I'm really interested in making a little vacation of driving to South Bend and then riding it in to Chicago. This video has rekindled that idea :-)
I would like to see a relocation of the terminus to downtown South Bend. Currently you have to change at the airport to an every 30 minutes bus which takes 24 mins to reach downtown. Still pretty good for a bus when you consider it’s the US, but a direct connection is always better.
Back when I was an OTR driver. The South shoreline was often included as part of my dead haul to one of my main pickup points near Elkhart. This was in the '90s and into the Early to Mid-2000s.
grew up in lansing. still in the area. gonna be weird to stop for trains on ridge road in munster, lol. will be nice to jump on there as opposed to driving to hegewisch when i wanna go downtown.
I prefer to take the South Shore Line going into the city. It's a lot less stressful than driving on the Dan Ryan. There's some great stops getting towards the city, like University of Chicago (57th St), Museum Campus/11th St, and Millennium Station, and it's all relatively affordable!
Never been on the South Shore Line, but I was thinking of riding it if I did a long distance bike ride in the area...to skip much of the Chicago area traffic. Maybe hop on it on the south end of the city and dart across to South Bend from there.
One of the only things that makes me proud to be a Hoosier. The double track project was incredibly impressive as well, considering it only took a few years - the change through Michigan City is dramatic. Some TOD being built near 11th st station as well
First the South shore use to terminate in South Bend. Reason for them to pull out is still debatable. 2nd service was double track all the way from Illinois to Michigan City Carroll Ave. They decided for Maintenance cost to go single track. There use to be stops at 115 st and 111 st on the IC line. IC customers riders started to demand to be able to ride the NICTD to Downtown. So NICTD decided to bypass those stops.
With street running eliminated and having more bi-level cars the South Shore Line will look allot more like the METRA ELECTRIC RAILROAD. It looks like the South Shore Line will eventually have all bi-level electric trains replacing the current single level cars.
Something not mentioned was how the extension of the Monon line made them create a whole new station at Hammond, which forced them to clean up the heavily intoxicated soils. The area around this new station is very empty, and filled with just parking lots right now. I think NICTD could work with the city to get that area rezoned and create a proper Transit-Oriented Development zone, similar to what's happened at the site for the 11th Street Station in Michigan City It could really show Indiana the power of rail transit.
Used to go to school in NWI at Valparaiso University. Valpo used to have a service from the PRR with the Broadway Limited then the Amtrak Calumet. It would be great to see an extension of the NITCD or Amtrak into Valpo. Sounds like with the All Aboard Ohio Plan for Pittsburg Columbus Chicago there might be trains back again. (But it would be better if they were electrified NITCD Trains
You can get into all sorts of arguments there. Was Philadelphia and Western an interurban? Philadelphia and West Chester? By those standards, does the Lindenwold into New Jersey count? Then Los Angeles built its Long Beach line along Pacific Electric tracks ... Then Iowa Terminal would like a word.
The new line isn't that hard to put in since it's almost entirely on an old abandoned line where some of the track was never pulled. A rail-trail is being moved for much of this run.
The travel time is about 2 hours but theres a time zone change which causes it to take 1 hour from South Bend to Chicago and 3 hours from Chicago to South Bend.
I wouldn't call the South Shore Line obscure. It's been widely known and popular for decades, connecting Chicago's loop to South Bend. It's why South Bend is recovering and growing today.
@@StefanWithTrains @StefanWithTraind3222: I think eventually bi-level electric trains like on the METRA ELECTRIC will be the future cars of the South Shore Line replacing the single level cars now on the line.
Single level cars were built in 1982-83, 1992and 2001. Gallery cars built in 2005 and 2008-09. All the single level cars are being rebuilt. The big problem is Nippon-Sharyo is no longer selling rail cars in the US after their attempt to build a US plant failed. Any new cars will need to come from another manufacturer.
I am kind of sad they got rid of so much of the street running network around Chicago... I understand it not being the Best to have street-running heavy rail, but then, it provided actual door-door access for so many, and I feel, that is what transit should be if it wants to compete with cars.
That's the trouble. In Indiana, transit isn't supposed to compete with cars. Look at the Valparaiso or Gary bus system: underfunded and inconsistent loop systems which feed into the train only once they've completed a large loop around the city perimeter. Transit is a method of last resort in Indiana, unfortunately.
Used to take SSL from E Chicago when living in central IN - the new corridor would have significantly improved the drive to the train by avoiding the Hammond area traffic.
I was raised in neighboring new buffalo michigan. My father who works at his job in Chicago. he takes this train daily from Michigan city at 11th or Carroll to Chicago millennium station.
@@traviskitteh That doesn't sound like democracy at all, you shouldn't be able to 'ban' a mode of transportation, especially mass transit. I believe that the states planning documents do say something about encouraging sustainable modes of transport...
As someone who grew up near Dyer, I can tell you, the majority of Lake County, IN is more Illinois/Chicago in terms of mentality then it is to the rest of Indiana
The line should look at powering the system using more solar sources on line property as a way to keep prices down and quality up. Maybe they could get some kind of grant???????
The first time I rode the South Shore was in 1980 to/from the old Gary station... I rode in an Insull type interurban car with overstuffed seats and magnificent glass globe light fixtures. It was a neat experience although it did smell kinda like a musty grandma's house. Ive ridden recently from Dune Park and South Bend in the new cars. Theyre nice, but dont have the personality of the 1920s cars..
to be honest, when I think of Indiana I think of rustbelt industries rather than fields of any kind.... a bleak sub-arctic steppe with occasional empty mining communities on long stretches of freight railways; multiple coal and ore oriented ports along a marsh-surrounded cold, stormy lake with large creaking bulk carries plodding through freezing fog and sleet... forgotten high streets of decaying red brick multistories... that is what my mind conjures up. saying this, some kind of heavy rail passenger train would not be a surprise, since I associate the area with railways, if I expect most to be 200-300 boxcar behemoths, a few slow1950s all metal passenger trains are also to be expected.
i’ve used the train many times. i’ve biked to stations and driven to them. i think it needs a fare overhaul and better metra integration. it should not have cost me $13 for dune park to michigan city as a round trip. i don’t support south bend airport expansion or rail service. i think sb could be better served with a west side park and ride and proper downtown station. between sb union station and the bus depot the schools own a large empty lot that could be a nice terminal. the chicago dash bus is very popular to valpo, so using the ex pennsylvania tracks by connecting them to the main ssl line in gary would probably work well. especially since valpo university and the city colleges of chicago are now in an agreement.
This is obscure for no one in Chicago or Northwest Indiana. It’s a major, historic, and expanding commuter rail line. Your surprise from elsewhere that it exists is meaningless.
growing up in south chicago everyone called it the vomit comet cause all the notre dame fans here were riding it to and from games on the weekends and getting hammered LOL
Honestly I am just confused as to why they are insisting on the South Shore line going to South Bend airport rather than downtown South bend? It just seems like a bad decission to go that way and terminate such an important corridor between 3 cities at such an outlying location of the final city. The airport line could still be useful but likely just as a branch with limited service. I really REALLY think the line should get extended back into the heart of downtown South bend, even if it means going street running like the line did originally. Downtown connectivity is too important to lose out on.
I certainly look forward to them reestablishing the downtown station, but the airport one is very nice for people wanting to take the train to their flights. When I lived in Chesterton, I would occasionally take the South shore in for business flights.
The South Shore Line used to go to downtown South Bend until 1971. Due to frequent accidents on the street-running portions of the line in the city, the terminal station was moved to a new station on the west side of the city. In the 90s, that location was deemed to be too remote and the current terminus was built at the South Bend International Airport. However, the line uses a circuitous and curving route with multiple grade crossings to enter the east side of the airport. Changing the terminal to the west side of the airport will save time, increase speed and eliminate most of the grade crossings. There are efforts underway to extend the line back to the downtown area. The SSL wanted to do the airport realignment first before working on the downtown plan. I hope it happens soon!
I love the South Shore Line, but frankly, the airport realignment project is incredibly stupid. Instead if wasting billions on moving the station to another useless location, they need to lut firth the investment to bring the trains back downtown. Nobody is taking the SSL to fly out of South Bend.
I live in South Hammond is railroads going to cause a lot of problems the problems are already starting with weed control all along Blaine avenue all the way down past conkey Street bad weeds growing everywhere down in the ravine and along the bridge on 165th facing Blaine avenue weeds everywhere nauseous weeds the city of Hamilton come out and ticket you if you got weeds in your yard but they don't do nothing against the South shore railroad it's been like this all summer long even last year and then when the trains run they're going to create a lot of vibration all the houses down on Blaine avenue there's sewer tiles are going to crack and their foundations and then there's going to be dust everywhere from the real wind going down the tracks it's all going to be sand and limestone dust and everybody's cars are going to get coated so if you read this Mike Nolan come out here with a weed wacker in your hand and start cutting the weeds down you took a beautiful Green space away from us nice cut grass clean nice bike path flowers along the hill at the cemetery wildflowers I know and flowering trees because I planted them when I was youngbut you don't care you don't care at all Mike Nolan and the City of Hammond they should already have ticketed you for the weeds growing everywhere now to get on the bike path on Blaine avenue you have to go all the way down to Kenwood Street or you have to cross 160 5th to get on what kind of crap is that Mike Nolan
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
I grew up in South Bend, and we would take the South Shore often for trips to Chicago. Haven't been able to ride it since the double track project completed, but glad to see it has improved.
Now if only the rest of the state can get on board with transit....RIP Hoosier State train.
Rest of the state? My guy it has transit because it's apart of chicago and considered an important commuter area, as in many from South bend, Gary, etc, come to chicago for work. It being in Indiana dosent matter, Chicagoland stretches into Indiana and Wisconsin.
@@RickJuniorO I guess it's the same idea as that Septa line that goes into Delaware or that MBTA commuter line that goes into Rhode Island.
@@RickJuniorObut it receives funding from Indiana, which is unique for a rail service
@@benfleishman2944all of it or just the Indiana portion?
I live in South Bend, and have not driven to Chicago in years. The new update has made it even better.
Thanks for highlighting this! Hoping to see everyone at the Monon Corridor opening and I can't wait for future service expansions that have been discussed, but not yet planned to Valpo and Lowell!
Are those the only expansion plans you know of? I live in Goshen and would give anything for more eastward expansion past South Bend
@@adamknott7830 Yes, an Elkhart extension was planned and then tabled due to major questions surrounding feasibility. Unlikely to happen anytime soon.
@willhazen9507 wow, this is painful. I'd love to see their study on that because I think it would be a great idea and we have the corridor for it too
I will be at the inaugural run ❤
@@adamknott7830 No Elkhart extension officially planned ... just mentioned as a potential future plan. When mentioned the problem of getting a ROW from South Bend to Elkhart was the challenge (land next to the NS alignment between the two cities). There are several challenges to overcome to cover those ~20 miles. NICTD is open to having a terminal downtown South Bend but the current focus is to update the airport station which will immediately cut 15+ minutes off of the trip to Michigan City and beyond.
One of the hidden gems of Indiana
One of the few* hidden gems.
@@traviskittehwe don’t associate with Indiana , we just call the region , northwest Indiana is just an extension of the Chicago metro area, not like that is anything to be proud of
Everybody (around here) loves the South Shore train and theyre actually physically expanding now
I feel like they should return the south shore line to downtown south bend, or even extend to Elkhart.
Then to Goshen afterwards
@@JoeyLovesTrains 💯
Downtown South Bend and Notre Dame campus
Do some digging around in the ferroequinologist press until you come up with the Goshen South Bend and Chicago ...
@@adamknott7830 I think a separate system that connects South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, and Goshen could be cool if the money were there to build it and operate it at useful frequencies with useful connecting bus lines.
But that’d be too much to ask of the Indiana state gov and others
as a native of Michigan City, I can confirm people think that we are a city in Michigan, not Indiana. we are Michigan City, Indiana.
I live in Indianapolis, and have used the South shore train to visit Chicago. Parking for free in Hammond and taking the train to downtown Chicago is so great! ❤
I took the South Shore Line last month with a group of friends to visit Indiana Dune State Park. The double tracking allowed us to do this because of the increased speeds and frequencies. We never felt rushed to hustle to make our train.
One downside, however, is that our return train to Chicago was 20 minutes late. I’m not sure how it can be that late given the relative grade separation. We got even further delayed by the time we made it back to Chicago. Perhaps it was the heat (that day had a high in the low 90s). Whatever the reason, there was no communication about it. Platform displays told us the train was delayed but didn’t tell us when it would be there. This is low hanging fruit to improve on.
Ya, the SSL has had a lil bit of trouble around the time you rode it relating to keeping trains on time. The company jumped the gun with adding more frequent trains since the double tracking project was complete, but they were still going through some learning bumps with the new schedule. It's improved a lot more now, with delays getting reduced from 20+ mins average to around 5 mins average. Still, delays like that in the first couple months of service really impact ridership perception.
Good to know!
Would like to see them make a route to Indianapolis and back
Just rode this line for the first time while visiting Chicago. Was very cool to take transit to a national park. I wish they would make a downtown terminus in South Bend tho
They are planning to build a terminus in Downtown South Bend or at the Western side of the airport because the route the line currently takes to the airport is slow and circuitous with tight curves. There a bus from the airport to the Amtrak Station, downtown, Notre Dame and University Park Mall every 30 minutes.
@@simonsv9449 good to hear!
Would be nice if the South Shore and Metra Electric could form a frequent metro style service with a train every few minuets at peak from Kensington north (even if South Shore only goes to Gary and the ME Mainline to Homewood). Also the Dyer branch should run into the city all day since its just that close. If there are Amtrak trains to Valparaiso again, I can see why they would make that peak only
I'm a South Bend native myself and still remember when the Big Orange cars came all the way downtown to the station at Michigan and LaSalle Sts. The terminus in South Bend was initially moved to the west side of town near Bendix in 1970. Amtrak still uses this station today. The South Shore moved its terminus to the airport later. New cars were ordered in 1980-ish and were phased in during 1982-83. The last of the Big Orange cars were retired in September of 1983. My late aunt remembered that when my mother's family arrived in South Bend in 1949, South Shore trains ran to Chicago every hour. You didn't even need a timetable - if you missed a train, there would be another one.
Sounds like we have some work to do to get back to the way it was
@@adamknott7830 The Toll Road put a huge dent in South Shore ridership, especially in and out of South Bend.
@8avexp seems like a downtown station is even more important then. The airport is too out of the way
@@adamknott7830 The sharp decline of traffic in and out of South Bend prompted the railroad to move its terminus to the west side of town. There has been talk of running the line to Union Station.
I just arrived back today from a weekend trip to the Indiana Dunes. Noticed there was a train station when driving into the park. I’m never driving again after hearing about this gem! Great and informative vid - thanks!!!
I hope they manage to bring the trains to the city's downtown again. At least South Bend is small enough that a bus ride from the airport to downtown only takes around 20 minutes, but it would be better to be close to where all the bus lines converge rather than off on the far end of one of them.
the terminal should be in downtown south bend. i do not support that airport. have a downtown station and a west side park and ride maybe at pine and ardmore trail
Problem would be parking which would mean also securing the parking. The bonus about the station at the airport is they have secured paid parking where you can park your car and get on the train. South Bend years ago had ambition of moving the Amtrak station from its current location to downtown where the Transpo bus line does transfers. They actually built the building across the street from the old Union Station building. But again secured parking is an issue if you arrive by car to the station. The fight that's happening with South Shore is the path they want to take to reroute to the airport's other side would take a good chunk of houses and the residents are resisting the plan.
At one time this train used to stop at 115th and Kensington. When i moved to the south side in 93 when i was twelve i stayed less than 2 blocks away east of Cottage Grove Avenue where the former IC&G (now CN) runs. Of course now i'm a conductor for BNSF (formerly of UPRR). I saw someone's comment that they should run it to Elkhart, that wouldn't be a bad idea. But they stopped service at Kensington from what i heard that Metra and CN were having disputes because the South Shore line have to use CN's crossovers to get on their own line. Don't know how true this story is but i heard it from 4 people i know that work on the CN.
I took the SSL in March when they were still in the middle of re-tracking, so it’s great to hear that got finished up! All hail the south shore
Banning light rail might be a blessing in disguise for the future, since it might push eventually push them to build a metro system instead. Kind of like the opposite of what happened in LA, where banning metros pushed them to build light rail instead.
In the San Fernando Valley, NIMBY-ists banned at-grade rail as well, forcing them to build BRT.
Unfortunately, Indiana also banned dedicated BRT lanes. Indiana will only be dragged into reliable public transit while kicking and screaming.
@@traviskitteh Are they getting rid of the bus lanes that the IndyGo Red Line in Indianapolis uses?
@@simonsv9449No, it’s only for the Blue Line. they will still bus lanes, except for the places where they cannot be added
@@traviskitteh I believe the bill to ban BRT lanes did not pass.
The South Shore has always been an incredible and underrated value. We are lucky in South Bend to have have the rail and air connections we have for a city our size. Love it here. :)
Took the South Shore Line to the beach a few weeks ago. The rolling stock, although old, is smooth and quiet. Awesome train service.
Very good video! I hear the Miller Station is very nice! I see the progress on the West Lake portion coming along. Funny thing is that the terminus in Dyer is close to the Amtrak line.
Thanks!
I rode that line for several years between NW Indiana in my work in Chicago.
Great video. My son used to take the South Shore to go to school in Chicago. Was always fun to go visit him. Thanks for sharing.
i used to take the south shore line every day when i was in college, i feel so nostalgic watching this video
I'm a fan of the line and have a few models, I enjoyed riding when I visited Chicago recently. I do wish they chose to extend it back to downtown South Bend instead of the airport realignment, though the airport route does raise a possibility of extending the line to Notre Dame.
SSL bouta singlehandedly rebuild Indiana's electric railroad network
you must continue to downtown South Bend and continue to Elkhart
Agreed
I was just about to make this comment.
I live near the South Shore Line. I'd like to see it stop at the South Bend Airport and continue on to South Bend Union Station, which is being converted back to Amtrak use again. There is also the possibility that the St. Charles AirLine/ CrossRail Chicago project could give access to Chicago Union Station, although that might only be for Amtrak or HSR. The SSL's independence from Amtrak and local management is probably the biggest reason it has survived in this state. It is in many ways an argument for Amtrak to be broken up and returned to profitable passenger operations in this part of the country.
I'm old enough to remember the old orange and maroon cars. As a kid, I remember riding between Hammond and downtown Chicago. I rode those back in the late Fifties and early Sixties. It couldn't have happened back then, since the Monon was still operating, but the West Lake corridor would have been nice since we lived in Lansing, IL, a town right the state line. It would have saved the drive into Hammond.
My mother rode the south shore to Chicago from Chesterton every day when she went to college! This is an amazing amenity that Indiana should harness, and repeat elsewhere!
A minor correction: the eastern terminus of the line was not moved immediately from downtown South Bend to the airport. In between times, it terminated at Bendix Drive on the west side. Not very convenient at all, but there were cabs generally waiting to take you where you wanted to go from there.
I rode the South Shore a few times in the early 1980s. Both the old Insull-era orange cars and the new cars shortly after they were put into service.
Why am I watching a video about a railway in Indiana, and thoroughly enjoying it?! YT's random recommendations pay off, it seems! There's a part where you mention speeding things up by doubling the tracks because the single line causes hold-ups, and that is something that's familiar to me where I am as the railway line serving my area should really have been doubled decades ago to increase frequency.
I think the reason they don’t let you ride between millennium station and 63rd is because they don’t f with 63rd
They’ll let you board going southbound and exit going northbound
The RTA has a rule that SSL can't pick up there lest it bleed their ridership on the MED. Rep Buckner and other officials have petitioned the RTA to change the archaic policy.
@@willhazen9507 The Chicago stops are a convenience for Indiana passengers. There are plenty of Metra trains to provide service along the Metra line. Each one of those stops adds delay to the NICTD service and would require NICTD to integrate with Metra ticketing. While some passengers would see a benefit, there would be no benefit to NICTD and most of NICTD's passengers who want to get downtown (11th/Van Buren/Millennium) not other stops. (The South Shore does make special stops for Soldier Field and McCormick Place events - serving Indiana passengers.)
They used to have a similar policy on the Metro-North Railroad in New York. You were not allowed to ride the New Haven line between Grand Central and 125th Street, but had to ride the Harlem line. I believe they have recently ended that policy.
RIP North Shore Line…
@HIDLad001: Also RIP Chicago Aurora and Elgin another Interurban badly missed.
Long Live The South Shore Line!
It's good to see America's last interurban is being rebuilt.the South shore line will have a lot in the Indiana towns along the remodeled line. If only this had happen with the North shoreline we would be enjoying that line. Thank you South Shore freight and NITDC for helping this line to survive in 2024. Rip in North Shore line.
There will be a lot of development along the South shore line in Indiana.
@HIDLad001: Also RIP Chicago Aurora and Elgin!
People pronounce “NICTD” not by saying it’s letters but by pronouncing it as a word (either consonant-dropping the “t” or “d”)
“Nick tee” or “Nick dee”
i’ve always pronounced it “nick tid” in my head, lol
Nick teed.
I grew up in Lansing IL and Munster IN and rode the South Shore downtown a number of times in the 1970s. We now live down in St. John, 8 miles south of Munster. I've only been on the South Shore once in the past 35 years to chaperon a group of Scouts headed to the planetarium, because it was a bit cheaper for that big group than using the Metra Electric Line from University Park, IL. The distance from St. John to either the South Shore East Chicago station or the Metra UP station is the same (just under 14 miles) but it takes less time to reach the Metra station, and Metra has historically been much more reliable than the South Shore. Even though the Dyer station on the extension is 6 miles closer, the traffic through Dyer in the morning is quite heavy, and it often takes just as long to reach that spot now as it does to reach the UP Metra station. Lots of us wonder how successful the extension will prove to be due to that congestion.
Hopefully NICTD can extend to St John and Lowell in the future. It won't be soon. I expect that the primary draw will be from Munster and Dyer residents that don't want to fight the traffic in Illinois. Hammond residents will have neighborhood stations instead of needing to use the old Hammond station. Being within a mile of the Illinois state line I expect some residents will go east to the new line but yes, there are other Illinois options available.
Really cool look at the SSL! I've never ridden it, but I'm really interested in making a little vacation of driving to South Bend and then riding it in to Chicago. This video has rekindled that idea :-)
I would like to see a relocation of the terminus to downtown South Bend. Currently you have to change at the airport to an every 30 minutes bus which takes 24 mins to reach downtown. Still pretty good for a bus when you consider it’s the US, but a direct connection is always better.
Back when I was an OTR driver. The South shoreline was often included as part of my dead haul to one of my main pickup points near Elkhart. This was in the '90s and into the Early to Mid-2000s.
Chicago suburbs, my mother grew up there. I've taken the South Shore a couple of times.
grew up in lansing. still in the area. gonna be weird to stop for trains on ridge road in munster, lol. will be nice to jump on there as opposed to driving to hegewisch when i wanna go downtown.
I prefer to take the South Shore Line going into the city. It's a lot less stressful than driving on the Dan Ryan. There's some great stops getting towards the city, like University of Chicago (57th St), Museum Campus/11th St, and Millennium Station, and it's all relatively affordable!
Never been on the South Shore Line, but I was thinking of riding it if I did a long distance bike ride in the area...to skip much of the Chicago area traffic. Maybe hop on it on the south end of the city and dart across to South Bend from there.
One of the only things that makes me proud to be a Hoosier. The double track project was incredibly impressive as well, considering it only took a few years - the change through Michigan City is dramatic. Some TOD being built near 11th st station as well
First the South shore use to terminate in South Bend. Reason for them to pull out is still debatable. 2nd service was double track all the way from Illinois to Michigan City Carroll Ave. They decided for Maintenance cost to go single track. There use to be stops at 115 st and 111 st on the IC line. IC customers riders started to demand to be able to ride the NICTD to Downtown. So NICTD decided to bypass those stops.
Nice video. They need to make it electric fright trains too.
With street running eliminated and having more bi-level cars the South Shore Line will look allot more like the METRA ELECTRIC RAILROAD. It looks like the South Shore Line will eventually have all bi-level electric trains replacing the current single level cars.
Yes but the single level cars will be transferred to the west lake corridor
@@oakcreekrailroadproduction3907 Possibly eventually I think the bi-level cars will be running on the Westlake Corridor in the future.
The line can needs to be extended along the Norfolk Southern Chicago Line into downtown South Bend.
I use this train 3 days a week.:)
I started a petition to overturn the ban on light rail in Indianapolis.
Were the trains ever retractioned?
Something not mentioned was how the extension of the Monon line made them create a whole new station at Hammond, which forced them to clean up the heavily intoxicated soils. The area around this new station is very empty, and filled with just parking lots right now. I think NICTD could work with the city to get that area rezoned and create a proper Transit-Oriented Development zone, similar to what's happened at the site for the 11th Street Station in Michigan City It could really show Indiana the power of rail transit.
Used to go to school in NWI at Valparaiso University. Valpo used to have a service from the PRR with the Broadway Limited then the Amtrak Calumet. It would be great to see an extension of the NITCD or Amtrak into Valpo. Sounds like with the All Aboard Ohio Plan for Pittsburg Columbus Chicago there might be trains back again. (But it would be better if they were electrified NITCD Trains
Norristown High Speed Line is an interurban?
You can get into all sorts of arguments there. Was Philadelphia and Western an interurban? Philadelphia and West Chester? By those standards, does the Lindenwold into New Jersey count? Then Los Angeles built its Long Beach line along Pacific Electric tracks ...
Then Iowa Terminal would like a word.
Awesome video!
The new line isn't that hard to put in since it's almost entirely on an old abandoned line where some of the track was never pulled. A rail-trail is being moved for much of this run.
"Beautiful mess." Interesting description... 😆
Michigan city native. Respect
The travel time is about 2 hours but theres a time zone change which causes it to take 1 hour from South Bend to Chicago and 3 hours from Chicago to South Bend.
I wouldn't call the South Shore Line obscure. It's been widely known and popular for decades, connecting Chicago's loop to South Bend. It's why South Bend is recovering and growing today.
They should really get new EMU's that don't look like they are from the 70's eventhough they were built in the 2010's.
@@StefanWithTrains @StefanWithTraind3222: I think eventually bi-level electric trains like on the METRA ELECTRIC will be the future cars of the South Shore Line replacing the single level cars now on the line.
I want orange Stadler FLIRT/KISS on this line
@@albertcarello619 Those Highliner II's still look ancient.
@@Tsass0 They'll be keeping the same appearance of these bi-level electrics for quite some time when manufacturing these trains.
Single level cars were built in 1982-83, 1992and 2001. Gallery cars built in 2005 and 2008-09. All the single level cars are being rebuilt. The big problem is Nippon-Sharyo is no longer selling rail cars in the US after their attempt to build a US plant failed. Any new cars will need to come from another manufacturer.
I am kind of sad they got rid of so much of the street running network around Chicago... I understand it not being the Best to have street-running heavy rail, but then, it provided actual door-door access for so many, and I feel, that is what transit should be if it wants to compete with cars.
That's the trouble. In Indiana, transit isn't supposed to compete with cars. Look at the Valparaiso or Gary bus system: underfunded and inconsistent loop systems which feed into the train only once they've completed a large loop around the city perimeter. Transit is a method of last resort in Indiana, unfortunately.
Used to take SSL from E Chicago when living in central IN - the new corridor would have significantly improved the drive to the train by avoiding the Hammond area traffic.
I was raised in neighboring new buffalo michigan. My father who works at his job in Chicago. he takes this train daily from Michigan city at 11th or Carroll to Chicago millennium station.
How did they ban light rail? How does that even work?
'cuz freedum
Most of the power in the state has been shuffled into the hands of the governor and state congress.
@@traviskitteh That doesn't sound like democracy at all, you shouldn't be able to 'ban' a mode of transportation, especially mass transit. I believe that the states planning documents do say something about encouraging sustainable modes of transport...
Ban state funding.
No state dollars, no federal funding to match. No federal or state funding means no light rail.
As someone who grew up near Dyer, I can tell you, the majority of Lake County, IN is more Illinois/Chicago in terms of mentality then it is to the rest of Indiana
They should double track the West Lake Corridor as well!
Great video. Just a heads up, multiple times you keep saying "NITCD" when it's actually NICTD. Like at 7:12, 7:47, and 8:02.
I think it was literally every time
Yay glad someone did a video on this very unique line! Monon is pronounced Mow Naan 😅
The line should look at powering the system using more solar sources on line property as a way to keep prices down and quality up. Maybe they could get some kind of grant???????
Does seem unusual that it wouldn't go to downtown South Bend. Is there good transportation from South Bend airport to downtown?
Dune park has ample free parking. If you need to drive before the trip, that's the stop to get on at.
I want them to stop getting discouraged and build the connection line up to Sault Michigan before its too late?
Tracks and service to Kalamazoo, MI would be nice.
Can anybody out there tell me why valparaiso lost their commuter service? I used to ride it once in a while and it was always busy and full.
Trains to and from Indianapolis. I live in South Bend.
The first time I rode the South Shore was in 1980 to/from the old Gary station... I rode in an Insull type interurban car with overstuffed seats and magnificent glass globe light fixtures. It was a neat experience although it did smell kinda like a musty grandma's house. Ive ridden recently from Dune Park and South Bend in the new cars. Theyre nice, but dont have the personality of the 1920s cars..
to be honest, when I think of Indiana I think of rustbelt industries rather than fields of any kind.... a bleak sub-arctic steppe with occasional empty mining communities on long stretches of freight railways; multiple coal and ore oriented ports along a marsh-surrounded cold, stormy lake with large creaking bulk carries plodding through freezing fog and sleet... forgotten high streets of decaying red brick multistories... that is what my mind conjures up.
saying this, some kind of heavy rail passenger train would not be a surprise, since I associate the area with railways, if I expect most to be 200-300 boxcar behemoths, a few slow1950s all metal passenger trains are also to be expected.
Took it for many years from NW Indiana to Chicago.
i’ve used the train many times. i’ve biked to stations and driven to them. i think it needs a fare overhaul and better metra integration. it should not have cost me $13 for dune park to michigan city as a round trip.
i don’t support south bend airport expansion or rail service. i think sb could be better served with a west side park and ride and proper downtown station. between sb union station and the bus depot the schools own a large empty lot that could be a nice terminal.
the chicago dash bus is very popular to valpo, so using the ex pennsylvania tracks by connecting them to the main ssl line in gary would probably work well. especially since valpo university and the city colleges of chicago are now in an agreement.
Surely the lines would benefit from some new high acceleration Stadler EMUs!
No need for the first patreon plug. Good vid.
They should come to Indianapolis to Chicago
Too far of a distance for regional rail.
The Amtrak Cardinal already connects Chicago and Indianapolis.
Indianapolis needs its own light rail system.
I believe one day this project can connect chicago and indianapolis
There already is a train via Amtrak, though not frequent or convenient. Indiana overall dislikes anything which makes mass transit easier for people.
Michigan City, Indiana got it's name from being the northern termimus of the historic Michigan Road in th early 1800s.
This is obscure for no one in Chicago or Northwest Indiana. It’s a major, historic, and expanding commuter rail line. Your surprise from elsewhere that it exists is meaningless.
thanks for your comment babe!
3:30 it’s NICTD
growing up in south chicago everyone called it the vomit comet cause all the notre dame fans here were riding it to and from games on the weekends and getting hammered LOL
Honestly I am just confused as to why they are insisting on the South Shore line going to South Bend airport rather than downtown South bend? It just seems like a bad decission to go that way and terminate such an important corridor between 3 cities at such an outlying location of the final city. The airport line could still be useful but likely just as a branch with limited service. I really REALLY think the line should get extended back into the heart of downtown South bend, even if it means going street running like the line did originally. Downtown connectivity is too important to lose out on.
I certainly look forward to them reestablishing the downtown station, but the airport one is very nice for people wanting to take the train to their flights. When I lived in Chesterton, I would occasionally take the South shore in for business flights.
The South Shore Line used to go to downtown South Bend until 1971. Due to frequent accidents on the street-running portions of the line in the city, the terminal station was moved to a new station on the west side of the city. In the 90s, that location was deemed to be too remote and the current terminus was built at the South Bend International Airport. However, the line uses a circuitous and curving route with multiple grade crossings to enter the east side of the airport. Changing the terminal to the west side of the airport will save time, increase speed and eliminate most of the grade crossings.
There are efforts underway to extend the line back to the downtown area. The SSL wanted to do the airport realignment first before working on the downtown plan. I hope it happens soon!
It's not really an interurban anymore. It's a commuter railroad now.
10:03 its pronounced Mo non, not ma non. Source: I live in NWI.
Improve the Electric Grid. As it goes down frequently.
I guess in Indiana it’s full metro no crossings OR NOTHING 😅
As a NWI native how much is brought in with fares and how much is subsidize by my taxes? Another government waste of money.
How much has I-65 brought in? Absolute waste of money!
Handing service to Amtrak WAS A BIG MISTAKE. Cause currently there’s nothing left and no land cruises don’t count
What does this have to do with the video
@@cornkopp2985 Probably referencing the part where other railroads handed their service to Amtrak, in contrast to the South Shore Line that didn't.
Any new cars will have to come from Alstom or maybe GE of Philadelphia.
Indiana: a state that used to honor labor, but now is like Mississippi lite. No thanks. Only NW Indiana has redeeming qualities.
I love the South Shore Line, but frankly, the airport realignment project is incredibly stupid. Instead if wasting billions on moving the station to another useless location, they need to lut firth the investment to bring the trains back downtown. Nobody is taking the SSL to fly out of South Bend.
I live in South Hammond is railroads going to cause a lot of problems the problems are already starting with weed control all along Blaine avenue all the way down past conkey Street bad weeds growing everywhere down in the ravine and along the bridge on 165th facing Blaine avenue weeds everywhere nauseous weeds the city of Hamilton come out and ticket you if you got weeds in your yard but they don't do nothing against the South shore railroad it's been like this all summer long even last year and then when the trains run they're going to create a lot of vibration all the houses down on Blaine avenue there's sewer tiles are going to crack and their foundations and then there's going to be dust everywhere from the real wind going down the tracks it's all going to be sand and limestone dust and everybody's cars are going to get coated so if you read this Mike Nolan come out here with a weed wacker in your hand and start cutting the weeds down you took a beautiful Green space away from us nice cut grass clean nice bike path flowers along the hill at the cemetery wildflowers I know and flowering trees because I planted them when I was youngbut you don't care you don't care at all Mike Nolan and the City of Hammond they should already have ticketed you for the weeds growing everywhere now to get on the bike path on Blaine avenue you have to go all the way down to Kenwood Street or you have to cross 160 5th to get on what kind of crap is that Mike Nolan