South Bend Airport station

South Bend Airport is a commuter train station on, and the eastern terminus of, the South Shore Line. Servicing South Bend International Airport, the station is 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Downtown South Bend, Indiana. In November 1992, the Airport station replaced the South Shore Line's former terminus at the South Bend Amtrak Station. The new station was constructed at a cost of $1.8 million and dedicated on November 20, 1992.

South Bend Airport
A South Shore Line train at South Bend Airport in 2004
General information
Location4485 Progress Drive
South Bend, Indiana
Coordinates41.7008°N 86.3110°W / 41.7008; -86.3110
Owned byNICTD
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsLocal Transit Transpo
Construction
ParkingYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone11
History
OpenedNovember 20, 1992
ElectrifiedYes (1500 V DC)
Passengers
2019227 (average weekday)[1]
Services
Preceding station NICTD Following station
Hudson Lake
toward Millennium Station
 South Shore Line Terminus
Former services
Preceding station NICTD Following station
New Carlisle
Closed 1994
toward Millennium Station
 South Shore Line Terminus
Location
Interior view of the island platform of the South Bend Airport train station (2012)

The station has a waiting room. Because the station is incorporated into the South Bend International Airport building, riders can also take advantage of its extensive lounging areas, shops and a meditation room.

Until November 27, 2009, most eastbound weekend South Shore Line trains terminated at this station. Since then, those trips have been cut in half, creating much larger gaps in service, to improve on-time performance for South Shore trains, which had suffered because the section of the line between Michigan City and South Bend is almost entirely single-tracked. Thus, if the westbound train got delayed, the eastbound train would get delayed even more because it will need to wait for the westbound train to clear the track.[2]

History

Plans to move the South Shore Line station to the airport, creating an air, bus, and rail intermodal terminal, had dated back to the mid-1970s by the airport authority.[3][4][5][6] In fact, plans to move the South Shore Line station there began to be formulated very shortly after the South Shore Line moved away from its stop in the city's downtown, which required street running, and into a newly constructed station.[6][7]

There was talk in the 1980s, for the South Shore Line to stop at the Union Station in downtown South Bend, either instead of or in addition to stopping at the airport.[8]

By 1989, the area surrounding the location of the South Bend's South Shore Line station that had been opened in the 1970s had come to be seen as an unsafe and isolated part of town.[9][10] At this point, discussions had been ongoing about relocating the station to the airport for over a decade, but had been stalled by disagreement over the route that the train should take to get to the airport.[11] In 1989 the Venango River Corp., the parent company of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend, went bankrupt, and NICTD became the owner and operator of the South Shore Line.[7] Venango's owner was said to have supported moving the station to the airport, but was also said to have championed having it take a route that would run through the Ardmore neighborhood of South Bend, approaching the airport from its west.[7] In 1989, NICTD recommended moving the station to the airport, to provide what they believed would be a safer station at a more appealing location and with a large amount of available parking.[10]

Train at the station's platform in 2006

There was hope that moving the station to the airport would position passenger air service at the airport as an alternative for northwest Indiana residents (an area also served by the South Shore Line) to Chicago's airports Midway and O'Hare.[12]

The station was built at the end of what started out as Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad's freight spur.[13] The physical location of the station was chosen due to the existence of the freight spur, but this alignment was originally intended to be only temporary.[14] The opening of a new station at the airport came on November 20, 1992.[6] Approximately 200 people attended the opening ceremony.[12] The new station cost $1.8 million, with NICTD paying approximately $1 million of the cost, and the rest being paid by the airport authority.[6] The station was originally an open platform, but, as was planned from its initial construction,[15] was later covered soon after with the construction of a new passenger terminal addition connected to the station. From its opening, the station has been accessible to those with disabilities.[16]

At the time of the opening, sources for NICTD claimed that the station made the airport only the second airport in the United States to be served by a commuter railroad.[6]

Connections

Bus

Transpo

  • Route 4: Lincoln Way West/Airport South_Bend_International_Airport

Coach USA

  • Tri State/United Limo routes

Proposed replacement
Main article: Proposed South Shore Line station in South Bend

There is a possibility that the station may be relocated or replaced. The current route that carries the South Shore Line to its existing station is considered slow and circuitous.[17] The top contending locations for a new location are the west side of the airport and the city's downtown.[18]

References
  1. "2020 State of the System Report" (PDF). Metra. November 2020. p. SSL-4.
  2. NICTD March 2009 Board Meeting Minutes, p. 7
  3. Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States, Volume 354. United States Congress. 1977. p. 354. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  4. Extension of the Airport Development Aid Program: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Aviation of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, First Session, on S. 1455 ... United States Congress. 1975. pp. 208–213. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  5. Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1978: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, First Session, Part 4. United States Congress. 1977. pp. 1233–1234. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  6. Wieland, Phil (November 18, 1992). "South Shore gets new cars". The Times. Munster, Indiana. p. B3. Retrieved November 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. icon of an open green padlock
  7. Parrott, Jeff (July 19, 2017). "How the South Shore took its current path". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  8. Kurowski, Jeff (December 12, 1988). "Perron pushers for extension of South Shore Line". Newspapers.com. The South Bend Tribune. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  9. Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1994: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session. United States Congress. 1993. pp. 1193–1224. ISBN 9780160411038. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  10. "Industrial Foundation Addresses Key Economic Development Issues". Newspapers.com. The South Bend Tribune. June 25, 1989. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  11. Dodson, Paul (September 10, 1989). "Lugar starts ball rolling on funding South Shore". Newspapers.com. The South Bend Tribune.
  12. Wieland, Phil (November 21, 1992). "New train terminal could have folks heading east, young man". The Times. Munster, Indiana. p. A2. Retrieved November 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. icon of an open green padlock
  13. "At South Bend, trains now go to the Michiana Regional Airport, using an industrial spur which had been upgraded and extended. The airport is northwest of downtown South Bend."
  14. "Plan to move South Shore station at South Bend airport receives new life". Trains. November 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  15. Porter, Don (September 4, 1992). "South Shore Due Nov. 1 at Airport". Newspapers.com. The South Bend Tribune. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  16. Wieland, Phil (December 15, 1992). "New plan will make trains accessible to accessible". Newspapers.com. The Times.
  17. Spencer, Suzanne (February 2, 2015). "South Shore to cut commute time from South Bend to Chicago". WSBT. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  18. Parrott, Jeff. "Next stop downtown? Buttigieg wants South Shore to run into the heart of South Bend". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
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