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49-682: The South Shore Line ( reporting mark NICD ) is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District ( NICTD ) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois and the South Bend International Airport in South Bend, Indiana , United States. The name refers to both the physical line and the service operated over that route. The line

98-695: A 2-digit code indicating the vehicle's register country . The registered keeper of a vehicle is now indicated by a separate Vehicle Keeper Marking (VKM), usually the name of the owning company or an abbreviation thereof, which must be registered with the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and which is unique throughout Europe and parts of Asia and Northern Africa. The VKM must be between two and five letters in length and can use any of

147-464: A hyphen. Some examples: When a vehicle is sold it will not normally be transferred to another register. The Czech railways bought large numbers of coaches from ÖBB. The number remained the same but the VKM changed from A-ÖBB to A-ČD. The UIC introduced a uniform numbering system for their members based on a 12-digit number, largely known as UIC number . The third and fourth digit of the number indicated

196-478: A modern, high-level platform and parking lot. The plan would require a demolition of residential and retail buildings currently located 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

245-700: A predecessor of the CNW, from which the UP inherited it. Similarly, during the breakup of Conrail , the long-retired marks of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and New York Central Railroad (NYC) were temporarily brought back and applied to much of Conrail's fleet to signify which cars and locomotives were to go to CSX (all cars labeled NYC) and which to Norfolk Southern (all cars labeled PRR). Some of these cars still retain their temporary NYC marks. Because of its size, this list has been split into subpages based on

294-491: Is quadruple tracked along the section shared with the Metra Electric line from Millennium Station to Kensington/115th Street, double-tracked from Kensington/115th Street to the yard at Michigan City, and single-tracked from there to South Bend Airport. The most recent service update was on August 20, 2024, when NICTD published an updated schedule incorporating passenger feedback regarding new double-track service. In

343-489: Is stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one- to six-digit number. This information is used to uniquely identify every such rail car or locomotive, thus allowing it to be tracked by the railroad it is traveling over, which shares the information with other railroads and customers. In multinational registries, a code indicating the home country may also be included. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) assigns marks to all carriers, under authority granted by

392-807: 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

441-540: 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. The Chicago South Shore and South Bend turned a profit during World War II due to the industrial nature of Northern Indiana. However, highway competition and suburban growth led to ridership declines. By

490-478: The Standard Steel Car Company delivered electric multiple units to the CSS&SB between 1926 and 1929. Many were lengthened in the 1940s and 1950s. The South Shore Line uses a zone-based fare system, with prices based on the distance traveled and stations' proximity to Millennium Station . There are a total of eleven zones (1–11). Tickets may be purchased at stations, online, and through

539-557: The U.S. Surface Transportation Board , Transport Canada , and Mexican Government. Railinc , a subsidiary of the AAR, maintains the active reporting marks for the North American rail industry. Under current practice, the first letter must match the initial letter of the railroad name. As it also acts as a Standard Carrier Alpha Code , the reporting mark cannot conflict with codes in use by other nonrail carriers. Marks ending with

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588-570: The 1950s all interurban lines were seeing a decline in rail travel as automobile use increased. 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 Chesapeake and Ohio Railway acquired the CSS&SB on January 3, 1967 and continued

637-513: The 26 letters of the Latin alphabet . Diacritical marks may also be used, but they are ignored in data processing (for example, Ö is treated as though it is O ). The VKM is preceded by the code for the country (according to the alphabetical coding system described in Appendix 4 to the 1949 convention and Article 45(4) of the 1968 convention on road traffic), where the vehicle is registered and

686-483: The CSS&SB embarked on a major rehabilitation program. This included new ballast and ties, 100-pound (45 kg) rail in place of 70-pound (32 kg) 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

735-558: The Gary-to-Valparaiso route instead. The Gary-to-Valparaiso route would utilize the partially abandoned former Pennsylvania Railroad line. NICTD officials contend the shorter length of a Gary-to-Valparaiso run and the chance to use existing tracks there may make it a lower-cost alternative to the Munster-to-Valparaiso route. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was some discussion about the possibility of extending

784-811: The South Shore mobile app. Ticket options include one-way, 10-ride, 25-ride, and monthly passes. One-way tickets may also be purchased on trains, but will incur a $ 1.00 penalty fee if a ticket agent was present at the departure station. Children aged 13 years and under, seniors aged 65 and over, passengers with disabilities, students, active-duty military personnel, and those holding RTA Reduced Fare Permits are eligible for reduced fares. NICTD accepts cash aboard trains, cash and checks at ticket offices, and credit cards online and at Millennium Station's ticket office. Most stations have ticket machines which only accept credit cards. For travel to Hegewisch station (zone 3), fares are set by Metra . Since 2005, there has been an ongoing debate pertaining to plans to relocate trackage off

833-682: The VKM BLS. Example for an "Einheitswagen" delivered in 1957: In the United Kingdom, prior to nationalisation, wagons owned by the major railways were marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway concerned; for example, wagons of the Great Western Railway were marked "G W"; those of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway were marked "L M S", etc. The codes were agreed between

882-541: The acquiring company discontinues the name or mark of the acquired company, the discontinued mark is referred to as a "fallen flag" railway. Occasionally, long-disused marks are suddenly revived by the companies which now own them. For example, in recent years, the Union Pacific Railroad has begun to use the mark CMO on newly built covered hoppers, gondolas and five-bay coal hoppers. CMO originally belonged to Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway ,

931-441: The early morning and westbound service in the late evening. On weekends and holidays, there are nine trains to and from Millennium Station. In the westbound direction, four trains originate at Carroll Avenue while all others originate at South Bend Airport; however, in the eastbound direction, all but three trains terminate at South Bend Airport. Additionally, three shuttle trains run between Carroll Avenue and South Bend Airport in

980-475: 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

1029-1020: The equipment used in these services. This may also apply to commuter rail, for example Metrolink in Southern California uses the reporting mark SCAX because the equipment is owned by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority —which owns the Metrolink system—even though it is operated by Amtrak. This is why the reporting mark for CSX Transportation , which is an operating railroad, is CSXT instead of CSX. Private (non-common carrier) freight car owners in Mexico were issued, up until around 1990, reporting marks ending in two X's, possibly to signify that their cars followed different regulations (such as bans on friction bearing trucks) than their American counterparts and so their viability for interchange service

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1078-448: The first letter of the reporting mark: A railway vehicle must be registered in the relevant state's National Vehicle Register (NVR), as part of which process it will be assigned a 12-digit European Vehicle Number (EVN). The EVN schema is essentially the same as that used by the earlier UIC numbering systems for tractive vehicles and wagons , except that it replaces the 2-digit vehicle owner's code (see § Europe 1964 to 2005 ) with

1127-488: 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. 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,

1176-592: The letter "X" are assigned to companies or individuals who own railcars, but are not operating railroads; for example, the TTX Company (formerly Trailer Train Company) is named for its original reporting mark of TTX. In another example, the reporting mark for state-funded Amtrak services in California is CDTX (whereas the usual Amtrak mark is AMTK) because the state transportation agency ( Caltrans ) owns

1225-661: The line from South Bend east to Elkhart County, Indiana . In 1988, Elkhart, Indiana Mayor James Perron pushed for the government to look into making long-term plans for an extension into his city. There are proposals to replace the South Bend terminus with a new station . There is a proposal to reestablish a station in New Carlisle. The line operates over the tracks of the Metra Electric Line from Millennium Station to Kensington-115th Street. Metra owns

1274-574: 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

1323-453: The morning peak, some trips in the afternoon are also express. In the eastbound direction, 27 trains originate at Millennium Station. Six trains continue all the way to South Bend Airport, while 6 trains terminate at Miller and the remainder terminate at either Carroll Avenue or 11th Street. In addition to service at Millennium Station, there are three trains that run only between Carroll Avenue and South Bend Airport, with eastbound service in

1372-565: The north side of the tracks. Just before Hudson Lake, the line crosses from St. Joseph County into LaPorte County and enters the Central Time Zone. From Hudson Lake, the South Shore continues straight west to Michigan City . In Michigan City, the track runs parallel to 11th Street from Michigan Boulevard to Tennessee Street, where it crosses over to Tenth Street. There, the railroad has an at-grade diamond with Amtrak's Michigan Services , after which it runs until Sheridan Avenue on

1421-601: The operation of passenger services. 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)

1470-613: The original Hammond station . Hence, the NICTD built the Hammond Gateway station to serve both branches. At a legislative hearing in October 2008, NICTD officials said they would drop further study of a Munster -to- Valparaiso route, and begin study of a Gary–Valparaiso route. At the hearing, NICTD officials said the projected cost of $ 673 million for the Munster-to-Valparaiso route as well as low projected ridership would have made it ineligible for federal funding and opted to study

1519-572: The owner of a reporting mark is taken over by another company, the old mark becomes the property of the new company. For example, when the Union Pacific Railroad (mark UP) acquired the Chicago and North Western Railway (mark CNW) in 1995, it retained the CNW mark rather than immediately repaint all acquired equipment. Some companies own several marks that are used to identify different classes of cars, such as boxcars or gondolas. If

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1568-405: The owner, or more precisely the keeper of the vehicle. Thus each UIC member got a two-digit owner code . With the introduction of national vehicle registers this code became a country code. Some vehicles had to be renumbered as a consequence. The Swiss company BLS Lötschbergbahn had the owner code 63. When their vehicles were registered, they got numbers with the country code 85 for Switzerland and

1617-762: The railways and registered with the Railway Clearing House . In India, wagons owned by the Indian Railways are marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway divisions concerned along with the Hindi abbreviation; for example, trains of the Western Railway zone are marked "WR" and "प रे"; those of the Central Railway zone are marked "CR" and "मध्य", etc. The codes are agreed between

1666-427: 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. NICTD planned to apply for federal funding for a preliminary engineering study and environmental survey of a Hammond-to-Lowell leg in 2009. As of 2008, that leg had a projected price tag of $ 551 million. As of 2019, the cost has increased to $ 665 million. NICTD

1715-682: The route crosses into Illinois and Chicago city limits, at which point the track curves northwest, through the Hegewisch neighborhood and, after crossing the Bishop Ford Freeway and the Calumet River , converges with the Metra Electric line south of Kensington/115th Street station. The South Shore Line then runs over the Metra Electric from Kensington/115th Street the rest of the way to Millennium Station . The line

1764-528: 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 calls for the replacement of both current stations with a single new station located a block west of the current 11th Street boarding location (between Franklin and Washington streets) with

1813-486: The third quarter of 2024. Departing South Bend Airport , the South Shore Line heads south alongside Bendix Drive, then west along Westmoor Street, before connecting with the tracks that ran to its former terminus. Between that point and Hudson Lake, Indiana , the South Shore Line runs parallel to Norfolk Southern 's Chicago Rail Line , also used by Amtrak 's Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited , on

1862-862: 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. 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. Several Highliner 2s from Metra Electric have already been acquired. Pullman and

1911-462: The track in this territory. Per a long-standing non-compete clause with Metra, outbound South Shore Line trains to Indiana only stop at Metra Electric stations to receive passengers; inbound trains to Millennium Station only stop at Metra Electric stations to discharge passengers. South Shore Line trains make the following station stops: Reporting mark In North America , the mark, which consists of an alphabetic code of two to four letters,

1960-452: The tracks alongside the street. It proposed replacing the two existing stations with a new station near the center of Michigan City. The realignment was completed as a part of the double track project from Gary to Michigan City. Street running ended on February 27, 2022, and buses replaced trains within this section prior to the opening of the new alignment. Service between Dune Park and Carroll Avenue resumed on October 25, 2023. Service on

2009-457: 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

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2058-525: The west side of Michigan City, Leaving Michigan City, the track travels through Indiana Dunes State Park , crosses over the Chicago Line and runs parallel to it, this time on the south side, past Long Lake . At Gary, Indiana , the route heads west to service the Gary Airport , at times running parallel to the Indiana Toll Road , as far as Hammond, Indiana . Just west of Hammond Gateway station,

2107-401: The westbound direction, 26 trains terminate at Millennium Station. Six of these trips run the whole length of the line from South Bend Airport, while all other trips originate at other stops in Michigan City and Gary (8 trains from Carroll Avenue , 5 trains from 11th Street , and 7 trains from Miller ). Some trips are "express" and do not make certain station stops; while mainly concentrated in

2156-531: The westbound direction, but only two trains are scheduled for eastbound service. 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

2205-461: Was awarded funding in the spring of 2020 and the line broke ground in October 2020. The project is estimated to open to revenue service in May 2025. The new line will run through Munster to Dyer , with a possible later extension to St. John , and trains will run as shuttles between Hammond and Dyer during off-peak hours. The alignment of the new branch leaves the old CSS&SB main immediately before

2254-536: 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 trains in the United States. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 1,406,900, or about 6,300 per weekday as of

2303-477: Was formed in 1977 to subsidize service. 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,

2352-580: Was impaired. This often resulted in five-letter reporting marks, an option not otherwise allowed by the AAR. Companies owning trailers used in trailer-on-flatcar service are assigned marks ending with the letter "Z", and the National Motor Freight Traffic Association , which maintains the list of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes, assigns marks ending in "U" to owners of intermodal containers . The standard ISO 6346 covers identifiers for intermodal containers. When

2401-694: 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,

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