South Shore Line (NICTD)

The South Shore Line is an electrically powered interurban commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago and the South Bend Regional Airport in South Bend, Indiana. Freight service is operated by the Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad.

History

Chicago and Indiana Air Line Railway

The oldest predecessor of the line was the Chicago and Indiana Air Line Railway, chartered on December 2, 1901. Service began in September, 1903, between East Chicago, Indiana and Indiana Harbor (now a neighborhood of East Chicago, but once an independent municipality). The following year it was renamed the Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway. Revenue service began July 1, 1908, on the line from Michigan City east to South Bend. An extension west to State Line Junction in Hammond, a transfer point for other railroads, opened September 8.

Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railroad

The Chicago Lake Shore and South Bend Railroad (CLS&SB) began serving northern Indiana in 1908. It was part of the Interurban growth that was beginning across the United States.

The Illinois Central Railroad-owned Kensington and Eastern Railroad was chartered in Illinois to complete the route,...
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