The West Lake Corridor is an under-construction commuter rail line in Lake County,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. New

South Shore Line 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 International Airport in ...

services will connect

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and the cities of Hammond and

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

History

New Start Studies

In mid-2000s, the population and commercial growth in

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

and

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

counties in

Northwest Indiana Northwest Indiana, nicknamed The Region after the Calumet Region, comprises Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton and Jasper counties in Indiana. This region neighbors Lake Michigan and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. According to the 2020 Ce ...

was outstripping projections. The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District determined that if the growth continued, it would be necessary to add another branch to the South Shore Line commuter rail. In 2006, planning proceeded for an extension to

Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. History The site of present-day Valparaiso was included in the purchase of land from the ...

, but the project was deemed unqualified for federal funding, and the NICTD was unable to confidently attain

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...

on the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

line to Valparaiso. By 2008 a new study indicated that the Valparaiso to Munster branch would not generate sufficient ridership and was dropped from the plan. In 2017, the NICTD began demolition of houses between Hanover and Brunswick streets to begin building a new station, where trains would interchange with the main line.

Capital Investment Grant Program

In March 2019, the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

(FTA) gave the project a favorable rating meaning the project could qualify for funding from the Capital Investment Grant Program. NICTD anticipated to be awarded funding the following spring with construction beginning later in the year. That October, the FTA approved the project moving it into its engineering phase.

Construction

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 28, 2020, which included the signing of a full funding grant between the FTA and NICTD.

Alignment

Traveling southbound, the new branch leaves the existing main line immediately before the current Hammond station. From Hammond south, the line follows the route of

Monon Trail The Monon Trail (known as the Monon Greenway in Carmel) is a rail trail located entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon Railroad was a popular railroad line connecting the cities of Chicago and Indianapolis, with stops at major settlemen ...

until it reaches Maynard Junction. The Monon Trail will be retained, but follow a new alignment. At Maynard Junction, the Corridor will have a flyover over the

EJ&E The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was a Class I railroad, operating between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary, Indiana. The railroad served as a link between Class I railroads traveling to and from Chicago, although it operated almost entirely wit ...

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

tracks, and then will follow new tracks built immediately west of the CSX

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

. Due to financial constraints, the initial segment will not extend to St. John or Lowell, but provisions will be made for future extension. NICTD is not constructing a station serving Hammond's downtown area. However, as part of its plans to revitalize its downtown, the city of Hammond plans to itself construct a downtown station at Russel Street along a section of elevated track. While preparatory work is to be done coinciding with the construction of the West Lake Corridor, full construction on the station is not planned to begin until 2025, making the station an

infill station An infill station (sometimes in-fill station) is a train station built on an existing passenger rail, rapid transit, or light rail line to address demand in a location between existing stations. Such stations take advantage of existing train serv ...

to be built after the initial opening of the West Lake Corridor.

Planned stations

* * (later infill station) * * *

Service patterns

The new line will directly serve

Millennium Station Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Terminal; sometimes called Randolph Street station or Randolph/South Water Street station) is a major commuter rail terminal in the Loop (downtown), Chicago. It is the northern terminus of the Metra ...

at peak hours with shuttle service between Munster/Dyer and Hammond Gateway for connections to main line services at other times.

References

External links

West Lake CorridorWest Lake Corridor Project Map
{{Metra, state=collapsed Transportation in Chicago Transportation in Indiana Proposed railway lines in Illinois Electric railways in Illinois Electric railways in Indiana 2025 in rail transport