Options Laid Out for South Shore Station in South Bend

Five options have been presented to the South Shore Line for a new station in South Bend, Indiana.

The costs of the stations were pegged by a consultant at between $23.9 million to $102 million for a facility that could help cut up to a half-hour off travel times to Chicago.Among the options are:

• The former Honeywell site south of the airport on North Bendix Drive, $23.9 million.
• The South Bend Amtrak station, $31 million.
• The former South Bend Chocolate Factory site on U.S. Route 20, $44 million.
• The former downtown Union Station site, $102 million.

South Shore trains currently use a slow, circuitous route to reach its station at the South Bend airport, requiring 10 minutes for the final two miles.

Building an airport station via a more direct route would cost an estimated $29.5 million.

Tags: Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad, commuter trains, South Bend airport, South Bend Indiana, South Shore, South Shore commuter service