CHESTERTON, Ind. — The South Shore Line has released new schedules effective Oct. 25 for the resumption of train service between the Carroll Avenue station in Michigan City, Ind., and Dune Park in Chesterton, Ind., as well as continued bus substitution between Dune Park and the Gary (Ind.) Metro Center station.
New schedules are available here.
Trains will now serve Carroll Avenue, 11th Street — reopening for the first time since 2021 — Beverly Shores, and Dune Park, while buses will serve Dune Park, Portage/Ogden Dunes, Miller, and Gary Metro Center. Train service then resumes to downtown Chicago. The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District cautions that delays are possible in the bus segments. Full rail service is slated to resume in spring 2024.
The date for the resumption of rail service — which represents the opening of the first portion of the Double Track project between Michigan City and Gary — is about a week later than had been previously projected by South Shore officials [see “South Shore to resume Michigan City-Dune Park trains …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 4, 2023].
The South Shore Line operates with a fleet of 82 rail cars built between 1982 and 2009 by Nippon Sharyo. The fleet consists of 58 single-level self-propelled cars, 10 single-level unpowered trailers, and 14 bilevel self-propelled cars. The single level fleet’s design shares commonalities with MARC’s locomotive-hauled MARC II fleet, which were also built by Nippon Sharyo. An additional 26 cars are planned to be acquired, replacing those to be transferred to West Lake Corridor services.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün