East Chicago station

South Shore Line station in East Chicago, Indiana

East Chicago

General information
Location| 5615 Indianapolis Boulevard
East Chicago, Indiana
Coordinates| 41°36′43″N 87°28′46″W﻿ / ﻿41.61194°N 87.47944°W﻿ / 41.61194; -87.47944
Owned by| NICTD
Platforms| 1 island platform
Tracks| 2
Connections| East Chicago Bus Transit and Gary Public Transportation Corporation Buses
Construction
Parking| 1,200 spaces
Accessible| Yes
Other information
Fare zone| 4
History
Opened| 1956
Rebuilt| 1982, 2004
Electrified| 1,500 V DC
Passengers
2019| 1,493 (average weekday)[1]
Services
| Preceding station  | NICTD | Following station

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Hammond Gateway

toward Millennium Station

|  | South Shore Line |  | Gary/Chicago Airport

toward South Bend Airport

Track layout

Legend

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to Millennium Station

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US 20 (Indianapolis Blvd.)

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I-90 / Indiana Toll Road

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to South Bend Airport

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Location

East Chicago is a train station at 5615 Indianapolis Boulevard in East Chicago, Indiana.[2] It serves the South Shore Line commuter rail line from Chicago, Illinois to South Bend, Indiana.

## History

[edit]

The station was built as part of a South Shore Line project that removed a street running section on Chicago Avenue and placed the line on an elevated roadbed parallel to the Indiana Toll Road in order to improve speed and mitigate traffic issues. It opened on September 16, 1956, though the station building was completed later.[3] Prior to this, South Shore Line trains stopped in downtown East Chicago at a storefront station at the corner of Chicago and Forsyth.[4] In 2004 the station was remodeled with high level platforms to provide accessibility, and to decrease station dwell times.[2]

## Facilities

[edit]

East Chicago consists of a single high-level island platform situated between two gauntlet tracks which permit the passage of freight trains. The northern track provides service to Chicago while the southern track services Michigan City and South Bend. At this location the South Shore Line is situated on an embankment and the platform traverses Indianapolis Boulevard. The station building is located east of Indianapolis Boulevard at ground level.[5] The station is equipped with ticket vending machines; staffed service ended in 2017.[6] Adjacent to the station is a parking lot with capacity for 1,200 cars.[5]

NICTD approved a $4.4-million construction project in March 2019 to increase passenger access at East Chicago.[7]

## Bus connections

[edit]

East Chicago Transit

* Route 1
* Route 2
* Route 4

GPTC

* Route R1: Lakeshore Connection

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "2020 State of the System Report" (PDF). Metra. November 2020. p. SSL-4.
2. ^ a b Longest, David E. (2007). Railroad Depots of Northern Indiana. Arcadia Publishing. p. 108\. ISBN 9780738541310.
3. ^ "S. Shore on New Line". The Hammond Times. Hammond, Indiana. September 16, 1956. pp. 1–2. Retrieved November 1, 2024 - via Newspapers.com.
4. ^ Ogorek, Cynthia L. (2012). Along the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Rail Line. Arcadia Publishing. p. 12\. ISBN 9780738594194.
5. ^ a b "South Shore Stations, Locations, Address, Directions". Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. Archived from the original on October 31, 2015. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
6. ^ Steele, Andrew (February 27, 2017). "South Shore's East Chicago ticket office closing as electronic sales rise". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Archived from the original on March 2, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
7. ^ Zorn, Tim (March 25, 2019). "NICTD: $4.4M East Chicago train platform project to begin". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 25, 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to East Chicago station at Wikimedia Commons
* South Shore Line - Stations Archived 2017-08-21 at the Wayback Machine

* v
* t
* e

South Shore Line

Stations|

* Millennium Station
* Van Buren Street
* Museum Campus/11th Street
* McCormick Place
* 55th–56th–57th Street
* 63rd Street
* Hegewisch
* Hammond Gateway (main line)
* East Chicago
* Gary/Chicago Airport
* Adam Benjamin Metro Center
* Miller
* Portage/Ogden Dunes
* Dune Park
* Beverly Shores
* 11th Street
* Carroll Avenue
* Hudson Lake
* South Bend Airport

Under construction|

* Hammond Gateway (Monon Corr.)
* Downtown Hammond
* South Hammond
* Munster Ridge Road
* Munster/Dyer Main Street

Proposed|

* South Bend (replacement station)
* New Carlisle

Former|

* 53rd Street
* Ambridge
* Dune Acres
* Kemil Road
* Kensington/115th Street
* LaLumiere
* New Carlisle
* Rolling Prairie
* South Bend
* South Bend Amtrak
* Tremont
* Willard Avenue

History|

* Metra Electric District
* Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad
* West Lake Corridor

Category

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