As you might know, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) finished a major multi-year $650-million double-tracking project about half a year ago. Currently, the NICTD has only one line – the South Shore line (or the Lakefront Corridor as they started referring to it recently) – although a second line is under construction and should be finished some time in 2026. Historically, the South Shore line has had four distinct segments with different infrastructure and correspondingly different service levels, decreasing from west to east (from Chicago to South Bend):
1. Chicago Millennium station – Kensington (quadro-track segment shared with the Metra Electric District line; right-hand running) 2. Kensington – Gary (double-track; also right-hand running) 3. Gary – Michigan City (used to be single-track with several passing sidings) 4. Michigan City – South Bend Airport (single-track with only two sidings)
The segment that has been double-tracked by this program is the formerly single-track segment between Gary and Michigan City. As a result, the line is now fully double-track from the junction with Metra Electric at Kensington to the 11th Street station in Michigan City (in fact, to a point slightly east of that station, CP 33).