By Bob Gallegos

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District announced the end of long-term temporary bussing on its South Shore Line interurban between the Gary Metro Center and Dune Park stations effective Tuesday, April 9, 2024. 

Buses have been hauling passengers between the stations since February 2022 to accommodate the Double Track NWI Project. The project eliminates a bottleneck where South Shore Freight services the huge steelmaking complexes near Burns Harbor, Indiana. The culmination of this work and completion of this segment allows for full train service to return to all SSL stations on April 9. 

Work included adding a second mainline, removing the railfan-favorite street running along 10th and 11th Streets in Michigan City and construction of new stations in Portage/Ogden Dunes, Miller and Michigan City. This will allow the addition of 14-weekday trains for more frequent service, reduced delays and improved travel times. While trains are again running, contractors are still putting the finishing touches along the line.

Of note is the ongoing work west of the double tracking near Hammond where the South Shore is building an all-new branch to Dyer, about seven miles south of the current Hammond station. Many new bridges and fly-overs are already in place as of press time and work continues on the new line.