Michigan City, Indiana station closing 4/4/2022

[jis]

The South Shore Line actually owns the Amtrak station in South Bend and leases it Amtrak, it was the South Bend terminus of the South Shore Line from when street running ended in the 1970s until 1992.

Exactly! AFAIR the City of South Bend or some such decided it would be more useful for it to go to the Airport instad of ending in the middle of industrial wastelend next to a crumbling Bendix facility, which is where the Amtrak South Bend Station is located. Of course the Bendix facility I think is now owned by someone else and it is no longer crumbling, and the area is seeing somewhat better days.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Exactly! AFAIR the City of South Bend or some such decided it would be more useful for it to go to the Airport instad of ending in the middle of industrial wastelend next to a crumbling Bendix facility, which is where the Amtrak South Bend Station is located. Of course the Bendix facility I think is now owned by someone else and it is no longer crumbling, and the area is seeing somewhat better days.

So you could say that somebody put the brakes on that? yuk yuk yuk....

(really bad Bendix joke, apologies)

 

[SubwayNut]

I was in Michigan City for an appointment today and stopped by the about to close Amtrak station. There wasn't a single sign (like a notice taped in the shelter) or any other notice that service to the station will perminately end in two days.

Shame on Amtrak!

 

[Old MM]

Need more rail infrastructure, not less.. why can they not plan for the future... new tracks if needed. Connect Michigan City with South Bend, Indy...

 

[NorthShore]

Need more rail infrastructure, not less.. why can they not plan for the future... new tracks if needed. Connect Michigan City with South Bend, Indy...

I think South Bend and Indy are connected by a once a day bus...that I missed, forcing a 24 hour layover, once because Miller and Greyhound couldn't effectively coordinate their services or communicate delays.

What you're, really, looking for is the old Indiana Traction Interurban system. It's hard to believe, today, that this state once had one of the most extensive transit systems in the country:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ind...ion (UTC) was the,, Elwood, Marion and Muncie.

 

[NorthShore]

I was going to say, there'd be nothing "nice" about South Shore running to the South Bend Amtrak station. An (expensive) arguement can be made for returning service to downtown South Bend, as was long the case and one proposal recommends.

What COULD be improved upon is bus service from Niles, Mi to downtown South Bend. It can, currently, be done by transferring between two buses on a corner by a gas station at the State Line, after walking down a winding broken sidewalk a couple of blocks to the Niles transit center. Not that a lot of people, likely, try or really want to. Get out of major cities and transit isn't used for transportation so much as there (and perceived as being) for working class, unemployed, and disabled riders who don't own a car or can't drive. Even attempting such service, then, would seem ridiculous to locals, most likely.

 

[neroden]

I would suggest someone email RPA staff about this: Amtrak is violating the 180-day notice requirement, which is a hard-and-fast law, and not even putting up signs at the station. I am not going to email them because I'm *doing my taxes*. But this is the sort of thing they should be bringing up with Congress and with Amtrak's management.

Edit: ah, damn my sense of civic responsibility, I did email them

 

[thully]

I’ve thought they could use a Thruway bus connection from the Niles Amtrak station to South Bend. It would offer more train options for South Bend Amtrak riders, and would also allow for connections from 355 to the Lake Shore Limited for passengers coming from MI (which would be way better than sitting in Chicago for 7 hours or in Toledo for 5 hours in the middle of the night).

I was going to say, there'd be nothing "nice" about South Shore running to the South Bend Amtrak station. An (expensive) arguement can be made for returning service to downtown South Bend, as was long the case and one proposal recommends.

What COULD be improved upon is bus service from Niles, Mi to downtown South Bend. It can, currently, be done by transferring between two buses on a corner by a gas station at the State Line, after walking down a winding broken sidewalk a couple of blocks to the Niles transit center. Not that a lot of people, likely, try or really want to. Get out of major cities and transit isn't used for transportation so much as there (and perceived as being) for working class, unemployed, and disabled riders who don't own a car or can't drive. Even attempting such service, then, would seem ridiculous to locals, most likely.

 

[NorthShore]

I’ve thought they could use a Thruway bus connection from the Niles Amtrak station to South Bend. It would offer more train options for South Bend Amtrak riders, and would also allow for connections from 355 to the Lake Shore Limited for passengers coming from MI (which would be way better than sitting in Chicago for 7 hours or in Toledo for 5 hours in the middle of the night).

The question might be what company would operate the bus? Is Coach USA still running the (expensive) shuttle between the Chicago airports and South Bend (via the airport and Notre Dame?) Would they do it? Most likely, it couldn't be Greyhound. And it would have to carry enough passengers to justify service. Realistically, some sort of mini bus shuttle from one of the local transit agencies might suffice. But, it certainly seems like a reasonable option to offer, opening up travel options both to Chicago and Michigan, to/from South Bend.

 

[SubwayNut]

The question might be what company would operate the bus? Is Coach USA still running the (expensive) shuttle between the Chicago airports and South Bend (via the airport and Notre Dame?) Would they do it? Most likely, it couldn't be Greyhound. And it would have to carry enough passengers to justify service. Realistically, some sort of mini bus shuttle from one of the local transit agencies might suffice. But, it certainly seems like a reasonable option to offer, opening up travel options both to Chicago and Michigan, to/from South Bend.

Coach USA discontinued the Expensive "Supersaver" Buses at the end of 2019. Royal Excursion (a local charter company that has various local contracts including the providing buses for the current long-term South Shore Line shut-down between Dune Park and Michigan City, and the Chicago DASH express buses to and from Valparaiso) tried to restart the service in March 2020 as the RoyalZoom and I think it operated for maybe a week before they "temporarily suspended it" on account of the coronavirus pandemic and haven't brought it back except for trips only open to Notre Dame Students on campus move-in, breaks, and move-out days.

 

[NorthShore]

And, Greyhound is only serving South Bend via a covered outdoor platform now, presumably without an agent there, anymore?

 

[ehbowen]

I would suggest someone email RPA staff about this: Amtrak is violating the 180-day notice requirement, which is a hard-and-fast law, and not even putting up signs at the station. I am not going to email them because I'm *doing my taxes*. But this is the sort of thing they should be bringing up with Congress and with Amtrak's management.

Edit: ah, damn my sense of civic responsibility, I did email them

Without an "or else" clause and a justice system which enforces it, a law is just window dressing.

 

[SubwayNut]

And, Greyhound is only serving South Bend via a covered outdoor platform now, presumably without an agent there, anymore?

Greyhound now stops at South Street Station the main downtown Transpo transit center, this was designed to also have a platfrom for Amtrak, but cost and objections raised by Norfolk Southern means who knows if it ever will be built. It has an interior space, and I know transpo leased space for them to have a ticket office at least when they moved downtown in November 2019.

I think it's actually a better place to have a bus station then the airport with easy connections to all local bus routes, not just one like the Airport.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

The question might be what company would operate the bus?

American Airlines obviously!

 

[NorthShore]

Greyhound now stops at South Street Station the main downtown Transpo transit center, this was designed to also have a platfrom for Amtrak, but cost and objections raised by Norfolk Southern means who knows if it ever will be built. It has an interior space, and I know transpo leased space for them to have a ticket office at least when they moved downtown in November 2019.

I think it's actually a better place to have a bus station then the airport with easy connections to all local bus routes, not just one like the Airport.

The airport not even being served by Transpo Sundays. (Odd, considering Notre Dame students who may be returning from a weekend in Chicago.)

 

[jis]

MODERATOR’S NOTE: Looks like this thread has run its course and then some. It is temporarily locked. If there is something further to say about Michigan City please PM us.