South Bend station

South Bend is a train station in South Bend, Indiana. It is served by Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited between Chicago, Boston and New York City, and Capitol Limited between Chicago and Washington, D.C. The station was built by the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad in 1970; South Shore Line trains continued to use it until 1992.

This article is about the current Amtrak station that also formerly served the NICTD. For the former downtown station, see South Bend station (South Shore Line). For other uses, see South Bend station (disambiguation).
South Bend, IN
General information
Location2702 West Washington Street
South Bend, Indiana
United States
Coordinates41.6782°N 86.2874°W / 41.6782; -86.2874
Owned byNorthern Indiana Commuter Transportation District
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport South Bend TRANSPO: 2
Construction
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Station codeAmtrak: SOB
History
OpenedJuly 7, 1970[1]
Passengers
FY 202218,848[2] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Chicago
Terminus
 Capitol Limited Elkhart
toward Washington, D.C.
Lake Shore Limited Elkhart
toward New York or Boston South
Former services
Preceding station NICTD Following station
New Carlisle
toward Randolph Street
 South Shore Line Terminus
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Hammond–Whiting
toward Chicago
 Pennsylvanian
1998–2003
 Elkhart
toward Philadelphia
Chicago
Terminus
 Lake Shore
1971–1972
 Elkhart
toward New York (Grand Central)

History

Until 1970, South Shore Line interurbans served downtown South Bend at LaSalle and Michigan, where there had been a stop since 1908.[3] The city had long wanted to eliminate street running, while the South Shore was looking to reduce costs as passenger traffic declined. The South Shore embarked on a program to consolidate its operations in South Bend. This included constructing the current station building at Meade and Washington and selling the old downtown station building, which had opened in 1921.

On August 7, 1969, South Bend mayor Lloyd M. Allen announced that the railroad would move its station. Allen claimed that for the past five years he had been working to persuade them to move the station.[3] The station opened in 1970.

When Amtrak took over intercity rail service in 1971, it moved intercity rail service in South Bend to this station, away from the larger Union Station.[4][5][6]

The South Shore Line moved its terminus to a new terminal at the South Bend International Airport in November 1992, although the track that used to terminate here was retained.[7]

In the 1990s, there was some discussion of moving Amtrak to the Union Station.[8] Subsequently, there were plans to build a new Amtrak station component at South Bend Transpo's South Street Station.[9] Ultimately, this never materialized.[10]

In the late-2010s, returning the South Shore Line to this location was studied as one of several options for replacing the current South Shore Line station.[11][12]

Notes
  1. Gregg, Ray (July 6, 1970). "South Shore Plans Dedication Tuesday". The South Bend Tribune. p. 11. Retrieved August 18, 2019 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  2. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2022: State of Indiana" (PDF). Amtrak. June 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  3. Parrott, Jeff (July 19, 2017). "How the South Shore took its current path". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  4. "Interurban Moves into New Station". The South Bend News-Times. August 3, 1921. p. 4. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  5. "South Shore Line Starts New Station". The News-Palladium. March 28, 1970. p. 15. Retrieved October 10, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  6. Ogorek 2012, p. 62
  7. Ogorek 2012, p. 93
  8. "Tie that binds". Newspapers.com. The South Bend Tribune. July 5, 1992. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  9. Sulok, Nancy J. (May 14, 1998). "If Transpo's electric buses have impact, it will be big shock". Newspapers.com. The South Bend Tribune. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  10. "Laporte County intermodal rail yard". WNDU. September 2, 2007. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  11. Steele, Andrew (April 21, 2019). "Five options for new South Shore station in South Bend". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  12. "South Bend Station Alternatives" (PDF). AECOM. April 19, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2019.

References
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