South Shore's Last Street Running Trips

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It is a sad day but I'm excited for the faster trip from my home in South Bend to Chicago, I can't believe this project is actually happening!

FYI - these will be the last street running trips with passengers this weekend. One continuous rail track will be maintained throughout the construction project to allow nighttime moves of both South Shore Line freight trains and the ability for the South Shore Line to deadhead the rolling stock needing to be used for daily service to rotate these cars in and out of the South Shore Line's only yard in Michigan City, late night passenger service will not operate because depending upon the stage of construction grade-crossings will be turned off requiring flaggers (making for an extremely slow trip), and in some phases the electrical system may be turned off requiring these deadheading MU cars to be pushed and pulled by a diesel locomotive.
 
SubwayNut said:
It is a sad day but I'm excited for the faster trip from my home in South Bend to Chicago, I can't believe this project is actually happening!

FYI - these will be the last street running trips with passengers this weekend. One continuous rail track will be maintained throughout the construction project to allow nighttime moves of both South Shore Line freight trains and the ability for the South Shore Line to deadhead the rolling stock needing to be used for daily service to rotate these cars in and out of the South Shore Line's only yard in Michigan City, late night passenger service will not operate because depending upon the stage of construction grade-crossings will be turned off requiring flaggers (making for an extremely slow trip), and in some phases the electrical system may be turned off requiring these deadheading MU cars to be pushed and pulled by a diesel locomotive.
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Will they be laying up some equiptment in Chicago?
 
MARC Rider said:
I guess those of us who went to the Gathering last October got a special treat, then, being able to ride while there was still street running. I'll have to go back after the construction is done to see what it's like.
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I'm glad we got that opportunity.
 
SubwayNut said:
It is a sad day but I'm excited for the faster trip from my home in South Bend to Chicago, I can't believe this project is actually happening!
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I'm excited to see it finally too. I made sure to grab a ride out before the street running ended and before they closed the 11th St stop. But it really is a long-overdue project. I can't believe the projected time savings they are talking about. I think that could really get a lot more people in NW IN to take the train.

Now, if only they would get it rerouted to downtown South Bend...
 
Metra Electric Rider said:
In the before times (pre-covid) their rush hour trains were standing room only - they'll need to run a lot more and longer trains if they get a big ridership increase.
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True. I know this project is going to add capacity and thy are promoting being able to run more rush hour trains, but I haven't seen just how many more trains they'll be able to run.

But I also thing some of their added ridership could happen in off peak, draw people to the train who wouldn't have taken it before for a day shopping or whatever in Chicago.
 
Deni said:
True. I know this project is going to add capacity and thy are promoting being able to run more rush hour trains, but I haven't seen just how many more trains they'll be able to run.

But I also thing some of their added ridership could happen in off peak, draw people to the train who wouldn't have taken it before for a day shopping or whatever in Chicago.
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I wonder how much capacity they can add - both they and Metra are somewhat constrained (particularly at rush hour) by the layout at Randolph and the turnaround time with PTC. If they add a big amount I've always wondered if adding a NICTD platform at Van Buren would be needed - going down to three platform faces always seemed awkward to me.
 
Deni said:
But I also thing some of their added ridership could happen in off peak, draw people to the train who wouldn't have taken it before for a day shopping or whatever in Chicago.
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This is where the trend is going nationwide, as it should. Agencies need to realize this and capitalize on it. Mid-day expresses, getting rid of peak fares, things like that.
 
Metra Electric Rider said:
I wonder how much capacity they can add - both they and Metra are somewhat constrained (particularly at rush hour) by the layout at Randolph and the turnaround time with PTC. If they add a big amount I've always wondered if adding a NICTD platform at Van Buren would be needed - going down to three platform faces always seemed awkward to me.
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Seems like those platforms are overdue for a complete rebuild anyway. I've always wondered why they only have the three platforms there, I don't know the history.
 
Deni said:
Seems like those platforms are overdue for a complete rebuild anyway. I've always wondered why they only have the three platforms there, I don't know the history.
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I don't know the particular history either, but I remember when they restored the headhouse at Van Buren and it's overdue for a refresh. Luckily they got the money - even before Biden's money - from the state, but I don't know the schedule. It would make sense for NICTD to get their own platform which would eliminate a crossover between Randolph and Van Buren and could move it further south where there is more room.
 

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