USA: Chicago inter-urban commuter railway South Shore Line opened its Monon Corridor branch from Hammond Gateway to Munster/Dyer on March 31, after inauguration ceremonies which were briefly disrupted by bad weather.
The 13 km branch has been built under the $1·6 bn West Lake Corridor Project to serve high-growth areas in Lake County, Indiana. The aim is to increase transport options and reduce travel time and costs for residents of central and southern Lake County who are travelling to central Chicago and surrounding areas, while improving access to South Bend International Airport and promoting economic development opportunities in Lake County.
The branch currently has four stations at Hammond Gateway, South Hammond, Munster Ridge and Munster/Dyer. A groundbreaking ceremony for a station in central Hammond is planned for April 16. The mayor’s office said it would be an ‘iconic structure’, designed by Alexander Gorlin Architects and city planners Speck Dempsey.
The South Shore Line services operated by Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District have now been branded as the Lakeshore Corridor, running from Millennium station in Chicago to South Bend, and the Monon Corridor, running from Chicago to Munster/Dyer. Outside the peaks the branch will be operated as a shuttle, with passengers changing at Hammond Gateway.
Monon Corridor
The Monon Corridor name was chosen in honour of the former Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railroad, which carried passengers and freight on the line from 1884 until 1971, when it was merged into the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and subsequently CSX. Freight train operations ended in 1989 and the route was then sold to the city of Hammond, the town of Munster and the NICTD with the aim of developing an electric passenger service.
The project has been backed by federal funding through the Federal Transit Administration. NICTD’s request to enter into the project development process was approved by the FTA in 2016, and the project designed was agreed in March 2019, leading to the signing of a Full Funding Grant Agreement in October 2020. A design and build contract was awarded tio a jonit venture of FH Paschen and Ragnar Benson, with Jacobs as the lead designer. T2 Utility Engineers performed Subsurface Utility Engineering services as part of the VS Engineering Inc team.
‘Open for business’
‘The West Lake Corridor Project on the South Shore Line sets the table for massive future growth opportunities supporting the economic engine in northwest Indiana, creating jobs and helping to revitalise this region of our state’, said Indiana Governor Mike Braun. ’Projections suggest that these projects will return $2 for every $1 of state investment, and I believe we will exceed these returns. The state of Indiana, and the region, is open for business.’
Sherri Ziller, President and CEO of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority,said ‘many of Chicago’s suburbs have seen strong and enduring real estate development around Metra rail stations. The double tracking of the Lakeshore corridor and the creation of the Monon Line are already providing the catalyst for similar development in Hammond, Michigan City and elsewhere in the region. The development that this train is bringing and will bring in years to come will create a stronger, more economically vibrant and more desirable northwest Indiana.’
