The South Shore Line is a commuter rail system operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois, and Northwest Indiana, United States. The system consists of two service lines: the Lakeshore Corridor and the Monon Corridor. It primarily serves the Indiana portion of the Chicago metropolitan area.
The initial line was built in 1901–1908 by predecessors of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, which continues to operate freight service. Passenger operation was assumed by the NICTD in 1989, who also purchased the track in 1990. The South Shore Line is one of the last surviving interurban railroads in the United States. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
History
Private operation
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The South Shore Line was constructed between 1901 and 1908 by the Chicago and Indiana Air Line Railway (reorganized as the Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway [CLS&SB] in 1904). Revenue service between Michigan City and South Bend began on July 1, 1908. The CLS&SB leased the Kensington and Eastern Railroad on April 4, 1909, giving it access to Chicago. That year the full line to Kensington on the Illinois Central was completed, and beginning on June 2, 1912, the electric cars were coupled to IC steam locomotives and run to downtown Chicago.
thumb|1925 broadside advertising the South Shore Line railroad between South Bend, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois to highlight attractions on the line, such as the beaches at Dunes State Park.
The Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend entered bankruptcy in 1925 and was bought by Samuel Insull's Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (CSS&SB). The line continued to handle both freight and passengers. Under Insull, the CSS&SB embarked on a major rehabilitation program. This included new ballast and ties, rail in place of rail, brush clearance, and an overhaul of the line's block signals. In 1949, the company acquired three Little Joe electric locomotives for freight service. These locomotives had originally been constructed for the Soviet Union, but changing attitudes due to the Cold War prevented them from being delivered. Although the exact same type as the Milwaukee Joes, the South Shore bought them before the Milwaukee did. These locomotives continued in freight service on the CSS&SB until 1983. No. 803, is preserved in operating condition at the Illinois Railway Museum.
The power system was changed from 6600 volts AC to 1500 volts DC on July 28, 1926, allowing trains to operate directly to the Illinois Central Railroad's Randolph Street Terminal (now Millennium Station) without an engine change. Trains began running to Randolph Street on August 29. That same year, the original line between East Chicago and Indiana Harbor was abandoned. On September 16, 1956, a street running section in East Chicago was removed with the building of a new alignment alongside the Indiana Toll Road. A truncation to west of downtown South Bend removed street trackage in that city from July 1, 1970. The Chicago South Shore and South Bend was one of six railroads with long-distance passenger services to decline joining Amtrak in 1971 and in 1976, they asked the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to abandon passenger service. The ICC gave the state of Indiana a chance to reply and subsequently, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) was formed in 1977 to subsidize service.
Public operation
thumb|Southbound NICTD South Shore train, led by car No. 109, seen entering [[55th/56th/57th Street station|57th Street station in Hyde Park, Chicago]]
In the late 1980s, the Chicago South Shore and South Bend went bankrupt and on December 29, 1989, passenger service was assumed by NICTD. In December 1990, the track was sold to NICTD and freight service was taken over by the new Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, a subsidiary of short line operator Anacostia & Pacific. On November 21, 1992, the line's South Bend terminus moved from the Amtrak station to the airport. On July 5, 1994, NICTD closed the Ambridge, Kemil Road, Willard Avenue, LaLumiere, Rolling Prairie, and New Carlisle flag stops. A seventh station, Dune Acres, closed around the same time once parking was expanded at nearby Dune Park.
The railroad began a 3-year project in 2009 to replace all catenary on its line between Michigan City and Gary, some of which was nearly 90 years old. The project cost $18 million and caused service disruptions on weekends while new wires were strung.
The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE), replaced a bridge on the South Shore Line across 130th Street, Torrence Avenue, and Norfolk Southern tracks in the Hegewisch neighborhood of Chicago as a part of a four-year project lasting from 2011 to 2015. The 2,350-ton bridge would be put in place in August 2012.
In 2015 NICTD began an express service between South Bend and Chicago. Targeted at business travelers, the train makes just two intermediate stops: Dune Park and East Chicago. The total scheduled travel time is 1 hour 55 minutes, more than thirty minutes faster than existing services.
In July 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, NICTD implemented "mask optional cars" for riders choosing not to wear masks, as Indiana did not have a statewide mask mandate. This received a controversial reception at the time, as it was alleged at the time to not help slow down the spread of the coronavirus disease, and the "mask optional" car was also the only car with bike racks. On November 14, 2020, the "mask optional cars" were discontinued, requiring all passengers to wear a mask.
Michigan City realignment and Double Track project
thumb|right|South Shore train at the [[11th Street (NICTD)|11th Street stop in Michigan City, Indiana]]
Since 2005, there had been an ongoing debate pertaining to plans to relocate trackage off the streets of Michigan City. In July 2009, NICTD announced its intention to relocate the Michigan City track south of its current location in order to smooth out the curves, cut down the number of grade crossings, increase speed and reduce maintenance costs. The plan also called for the replacement of both current stations with a single new station located a block west of the 11th Street boarding location (between Franklin and Washington streets) with a modern, high-level platform and parking lot. The plan would require a demolition of residential and retail buildings on the south side of 11th Street.
The relocation effort faced a setback in March 2010 when NICTD announced that it was short necessary funds to complete the preliminary engineering study. Unless the funding was found, the relocation would have been postponed indefinitely since, without the engineering study, NICTD would not be able to get state and federal funds necessary to complete the relocation. NICTD and the city continued to work on obtaining the funds needed. In 2011 NICTD accepted bids for a $1 million study, expected to take 18 months. The study was completed in October 2013. The preferred alternative identified by the study preserved an alignment similar to the current route but relocated the tracks alongside the street. It proposed replacing the two existing stations with a new station near the center of Michigan City.
As part of the Double Track Northwest Indiana project, NICTD added a second track along about from Gary to Michigan City during the 2020s. Work on the Double Track project commenced in 2021, and the Michigan City realignment was completed as part of the project. Street running ended on February 27, 2022, and buses temporarily replaced trains within this section. Service between Dune Park and Carroll Avenue resumed on October 25, 2023. Service on the remaining closed section between Gary and Dune Park restarted on April 9, 2024, with a new schedule taking advantage of the double track beginning on May 14. The Double Track project cost $649 million in total. , the cost has increased to $665 million. NICTD was awarded funding in the spring of 2020 and the line broke ground in October 2020. The project was originally estimated to open to revenue service in May 2025, but ultimately began operation March 31, 2026.
The new service runs through Hammond and Munster to Dyer, with a possible later extension to St. John. Trains run as shuttles between Hammond and Dyer during off-peak hours, continuing to Millennium Station during peak hours. The alignment of the new branch leaves the old CSS&SB main immediately before the original Hammond station. Hence, the NICTD built the Hammond Gateway station to serve both branches, which opened in October 2024.