jis
Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
I am attempting to move the South Bend discussion out of the Transportation Secretary thread
Theoretically I guess the idea was similar to why Brightline chose Orlando Airport as their station location. But as you allude to, South Bend Airport is no Orlando International. The other impetus for moving there was that the ambiance around the Amtrak Station was and is not exactly great, and the then city bosses were perfectly happy to not worry about letting things rot further in that area. With the change in city government there is now interest in uplifting those areas of South Bend and there are various thoughts about using the South Shore station as an anchor to do so. Even if the South Shore is extended to Union Station, it may still stop at the current Amtrak station too.Honestly, the airport doesn’t really make sense as a route terminal for the South Shore passenger trains (as one of the links alludes to). In a transportation context, connecting to a small, little-served airport that barely sustains service to hub airports (including O’Hare, incidentally) doesn’t really add much value. It’s not like people are going to fly to South Bend just to take the train to Chicago (well, “normal” people; I’m sure some railfans will take that as a challenge).
At the South Bend end this move of Amtrak off of NS and onto South Shore could be pulled off even if South Shore does not move all the way to Union Station, by building a crossover onto NS east of the current Amtrak station, and restoring the South Shore line to the Amtrak Station. If in the process South Shore also moves to Amtrak Station that would allow some cost sharing, and possibly help redeveloping the area around what used to be Bendix and is now Curtis Products or some such..Upgrading the route into Downtown South Bend and having an integrated stop with Amtrak has numerous possible benefits. Maybe even hang a carrot in front of NS’s face as well. If you can get a forward connection (i.e. one that doesn’t require backing out of CUS) to the St. Charles Air Line, Amtrak would love to move off the NS between Chicago and Porter, IN, on the Michigan Line trains. Add double-tracking the South Shore and a connection in South Bend, and you could possibly move the Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited over as well, all the way to South Bend.
It is possible that Mayor Pete would have understanding of this situation specifically in this case and do something about it. Although he seems to have been fed the story that South Shore to downtown must run elevated over South Street, possibly an AECOM ruse to show higher costs for the downtown option. Consultants can be quite obtuse about such things depending on who is stuffing their pockets on the side.The problem is, as with everything, our transportation networks are so disjointed and parochial that it takes a “small town mayor” budgeting a few million dollars to even possibly get something done in the South Bend area, when in reality, a large-scale view is needed to see that there are regional (and even national) transportation benefits to connecting the South Shore to downtown, combined with double-tracking, removing the street running in Michigan City (already under way), an improved connection to the St. Charles Air Line, and even improved rail capacity from Chicago Union Station to O’Hare Airport.
Having your own tiny airport is such a major matter of prestige! Look at Harrisburg International at Middletown PA right next to (almost) the Middletown Keystone Corridor Station.There shouldn’t be flights from South Bend to O’Hare, and there doesn’t need to be a passenger train that ends at South Bend Airport. Instead, fast, direct train service from South Bend to O’Hare ought to be possible, using just a few infrastructure upgrades, some of which are already planned, a few others being on advocates’ wish lists.
Last edited: