Having finished the first of its two major construction projects, the South Shore Line’s management now is working to see that its trains run on time.
The railroad’s new schedule went into effect May 14, after the Double Track project was completed.
But implementing the new schedule has been “challenging,” South Shore Line President Michael Noland acknowledged at Monday’s Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board meeting.
“We’re still substantially better than on the old schedule,” he said. But, he said, “it’s not where we want to be.”
Noland said the railroad’s early-morning express train has met its promised run times, such as 67 minutes from Michigan City to Chicago.
But with 14 more weekday trains than the previous schedule, the new one has less leeway to make up for unexpected delays on the route.
The railroad’s employees, as well as the riders, have been adjusting to the new schedule, Noland said.
He said he rode trains a couple of days last week to get a feel for the issues.
“We’ll stay at it until this is resolved,” he said. “We have dedicated professionals who run this railroad.”
“There’s not one thing you can fix,” he added. “There are probably 30 or 40 things.”
“We’re going to hit our stride. There’s plenty of opportunity.”
NICTD board member Jon Costas, the Valparaiso mayor, noted from his experience of opening a restaurant that the first days can be tough.
“You just have to go through that,” he told Noland. “You’re going to see some wonderful improvements.”
In several weeks, though, the South Shore Line’s other major construction project will create more delays for trains.
Starting around mid-June, Noland said, trains will run on one set of tracks instead of two in north Hammond for about five weeks while workers realign the tracks between the current Hammond station and the new Hammond Gateway station to the west.
After that work is finished, South Shore Line riders will use the Gateway station.
The Gateway station will serve both the current South Shore Line trains and the trains on the West Lake Corridor, the rail line being built between Hammond and the Munster/Dyer border with stops also in south Hammond and Munster.
Noland said that at this point the $945 million West Lake project is running “on time and under budget” – the goal the railroad met on the Double Track project.
Also Monday, the NICTD board authorized the management to begin seeking proposals for the railroad’s next 20-year plan.
The Double Track and West Lake Corridor projects were part of the plan adopted in 2014.
Some issues that could be considered in the new plan, Noland said, include whether to extend the West Lake line to St. John and Cedar Lake, as originally contemplated, and providing South Shore Line service to Valparaiso and downtown South Bend.
Costas noted that Valparaiso runs a bus line for commuters to downtown Chicago on weekdays.
“Right now, buses make a lot of sense for us,” he said.
Noland noted also that many of the South Shore Line’s cars are approaching the end of their expected lives, and the railroad will need to look at buying new ones.
“Just doing a really good job with the network you have is really important too,” NICTD board chairman Michael Smith said.
Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
