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.
History
Until 1970, South Shore Line interurbans served downtown South Bend at
LaSalle and Michigan, where there had been a stop since 1908.
The city had long wanted to eliminate
street running
A street running train is a train which runs on a track built on public streets. The rails are embedded in the roadway, and the train shares the street with other users, such as pedestrians, cars and cyclists, thus often being referred to as r ...
, 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.
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.
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.
In the 1990s, there was some discussion of moving Amtrak to the Union Station. Subsequently, there were plans to build a new Amtrak station component at
South Bend Transpo's
South Street Station
The South Street Station (formerly known as The Narragansett Electric Company Power Station or Narragansett Electric Lighting Company Power Station and rebranded in 2017 as South Street Landing) is an historic electrical power generation station ...
. Ultimately, this never materialized.
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.
Notes
References
*
External links
*
South Bend Amtrak Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)
Amtrak stations in Indiana
Transportation in South Bend, Indiana
Buildings and structures in South Bend, Indiana
Former South Shore Line stations
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1970
Railway stations in St. Joseph County, Indiana
1970 establishments in Indiana
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