Improvements to the South Shore commuter rail line, particularly in the number of tracks that run along the line connecting downtown Chicago to South Bend, would provide a significant boost to the local economies of municipalities in Northwest Indiana.
That was the message officials from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority and the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District presented during forums held this week.
fficials from those entities, and others with an interest in future development within the region, fielded questions about the improvements, for which local officials are trying to gain $42 million in funding.
Those officials pointed out that the commuter trains on the South Shore line run along a single line of track from Gary to Michigan City, compared to the Metra commuter trains throughout the Chicago suburbs that run on either double track or, in some cases, triple track.
Officials said that double tracking the South Shore line, while also relocating the commuter train station in South Bend from the east side of the municipal airport to the west side, would reduce the potential for delays that lengthen the time of a commute from Northwest Indiana to Chicago.
NICTD General Manager Mike Noland said officials want to reduce the time of a trip to 90 minutes from South Bend to Chicago, 60 minutes from Michigan City, 45 minutes from Chesterton and as little as 24 minutes from Hammond.
"We offer some 12,000 rides per day to Chicago," said Noland, who prior to NICTD was an official with Metra. "If we can double track, we can double the number of rides and we can get the time of a commute down to 24 minutes from Hammond."
Reducing the time of a commute would make the South Shore trains more viable to Northwest Indiana residents.
"We need to get those good jobs in the city (of Chicago) and bring that money back to Northwest Indiana," Noland said.
Ty Warner, the executive director of Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, said increased use of commuter trains would benefit Northwest Indiana communities, iif they are willing to increase development in the areas surrounding the train stations.
"It could inspire development that would create jobs and make many of these communities more interesting places to live," Warner said.
Bill Sheldrake, president of the Indianapolis-based Policy Analytics, cited statistics saying that transit-oriented development could create 5,300 jobs, some $5 billion in economic output and $430 million in personal income.
He also said that for every $1 governments invest in transit development, there is potential for $4.35 in economic benefits.
This project on the South Shore line is in addition to plans of developing a spur line that would connect communities such as Munster, Dyer and Lowell to the South Shore line that now cuts through the northern part of Lake County.
Bill Hanna, president and chief executive officer of the RDA, said officials are trying to get state funding for the double-tracking project, which would then be used to apply to the federal government to get matching funds.
Hanna said he believes this use of funds is worthwhile. "We should take advantage of what we have already invested (in the South Shore commuter railroad) for 100 years and make the improvements it needs to remain viable."