East Chicago is a train station at 5615 Indianapolis Boulevard in

East Chicago, Indiana East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census. The city is home of the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal, an artificial freshwater harbor characterized by industrial and manufacturing ac ...

. It serves the

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 ...

commuter rail line from

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

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

History

The station was built in 1956 as part of a South Shore Line project that removed a street running section on Chicago Avenue and placed the line on an elevated roadbed parallel to the

Indiana Toll Road The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East–West Toll Road, is a tolled freeway that runs for east–west across northern Indiana from the Illinois state line to the Ohio state line. It has been advertised as the "Main Street of the ...

in order to improve speed and mitigate traffic issues. Prior to that, South Shore Line trains stopped in downtown East Chicago. In 2004 the station was remodeled with high level platforms to assist passengers with disabilities, and to decrease station dwell times.

Facilities

East Chicago consists of a single high-level

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

situated between two

gauntlet track Gauntlet track or interlaced track (also gantlet track) is an arrangement in which railway tracks run parallel on a single track bed and are interlaced (i.e., overlapped) in such a way that only one pair of rails can be used at any time. Since th ...

s which permit the passage of freight trains. The northern track provides service to Chicago while the southern track services Michigan City and South Bend. At this location the South Shore Line is situated on an embankment and the platform traverses Indianapolis Boulevard. The station building is located east of Indianapolis Boulevard at ground level. The station is equipped with ticket vending machines; staffed service ended in 2017. Adjacent to the station is a parking lot with capacity for 1,200 cars. NICTD approved a $4.4 million construction project in March 2019 to increase passenger access at East Chicago.

Bus connections

East Chicago Transit East Chicago Transit is the provider of mass transportation in East Chicago, Indiana, an industrial suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Three routes are provided within the municipality's limits. Along with Hammond Transit, the Gary Public Transportation ...

* Route 1 * Route 2 * Route 4 GPTC * Route Route R1: Lakeshore Connection

References

External links

*
South Shore Line - Stations
South Shore Line stations in Indiana Railway stations in Lake County, Indiana Railway stations in the United States opened in 1956 East Chicago, Indiana 1956 establishments in Indiana {{Indiana-railstation-stub