South Shore Line reexamines New Carlisle station
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Major developments in western St. Joseph County are making South Shore Line officials rethink the feasibility of a train station in the New Carlisle area.
At a Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board meeting this week, the South Shore Line and the St. Joseph County Redevelopment Commission agreed to pay $150,000 to conduct a study on whether it makes sense to build a station in New Carlisle.
NICTD President Michael Noland told Inside INdiana Business that there’s been interest on a New Carlisle Station for a while, but a study done six years ago found there wouldn’t be enough ridership.
But things have changed dramatically since then for the small town on the western edge of St. Joseph County. General Motors and Samsung SDI are partnering on a $3.5 billion EV battery plant in the area and Amazon Web Services recently announced plans for an $11 billion data center there.
New Carlisle itself has fewer than 2,000 residents so the vast majority of workers at the plants would come outside the immediate area.
“The GM plant is going to employ close to 2,000 people. The Amazon plant will employ a lot of people. And we also know plants and facilities of those size also have a substantial indirect employment as well,” Noland said. “With that in mind, and in discussions with the county, we decided we ought to dust that study off and refresh it, given the incredible change in circumstances.”
The station would likely be located where the Hudson Lake stop currently is west of the town. Though the station makes sense in Noland’s mind, the realization of a new station is still a ways off. He estimates at least two years of studies and preliminary engineering before construction would begin.
Connected to discussions on a New Carlisle stop is the progress of the South Shore Line building a station on the west side of the South Bend International Airport. At Monday’s NICTD’s board meeting, the body approved an agreement with the airport that will see the South Shore pay the airport $75,000 a year to continue using its station on the eastern edge of the property.
That’s a marked improvement in stability, Noland said, given the past few years have seen the two parties simply extending their old agreement by 60-day increments.
The deal also lets the two parties negotiate terms on the South Shore Line leasing land on the airport’s western edge for a station as well as for easements for track construction.
Noland previously told IIB that moving the rail line’s connection to the west side of the airport would save 12 to 15 minutes for every train to and from Chicago.
If those plans continue to progress, Noland hopes to run a small shuttle from Michigan City to South Bend—stopping at New Carlisle—on top of the main South Shore line.
“I see the New Carlisle station as an opportunity not only to serve the growing population of New Carlisle, but it also plays into our vision of providing greater access into and out of the airport, which serves airport customers and greater service to the St. Joseph County area,” said Noland.