South Shore Line to resume train service through Double Track construction area

CHESTERTON, Ind. — South Shore Line rail service will resume between the Gary Metro Center and Dune Park stations on April 9, ending a bus substitution to accommodate construction for the Double Track Project that dates to February 2022, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District has announced.

Initially, train service will operate using a schedule implemented in October 2023 (and available here). All station pick-up areas relocated during the project will be returned to their permanent locations, including at the newly built Portage/Ogden Dunes and Miller stations. New schedules, including the addition of new strains, are forthcoming, the agency says.

South Shore operations between Gary and Michigan City, Ind., have been subject to at least some form of bus substitution since Feb. 28, 2022, when buses replaced trains between Michigan City and the Dune Park station in Porter, Ind., bringing an end to the majority of the South Shore’s street running in Michigan City as it had existed for generations [see “Double-track construction set to end South Shore street running,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 22, 2022]. The bus substitution was extended to Gary in August of that year but eventually shortened at its east end, with rail service between Michigan City and Dune Park restored last October [see “South Shore to resume Michigan City-Dune Park trains …,” News Wire, Oct. 4, 2023].

The 26-mile, $378 million Double Track Project, adding a second main between Gary and Michigan City, is projected to cut travel times between Michigan City and downtown Chicago from 1 hour, 40 minutes to 1 hour, 7 minutes; South Shore plans to take advantage of the additional capacity with 14 more weekday trains.