South Shore president not ruling out May opening of West Lake Corridor
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The West Lake Corridor commuter rail branch in northwest Indiana may take a bit longer to open than originally hoped.
Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) President Mike Noland says the opening date now depends on the construction of a new underpass at the south end of the branch. That would extend Main Street under the West Lake and CSX tracks, to the planned parking lot at the future Munster/Dyer station.
Noland told the NICTD Board on Monday that CSX has finally agreed to let the underpass be built.
“Activity’s taking place right now to move that part of the process forward,” Noland said. “They have to drive piles. They have to put in a jump span. After they put in the jump span, there’s a bunch of substructure and retaining wall. Then, they drop in the superstructure.”
The contractor’s current schedule calls for the underpass to open in mid-September of 2025, but Noland said NICTD is working with it to find ways to speed that up. “I’ve been saying, ‘May, May, May of ’25’ for a long, long time. I’m not going to give up on May. If it’s end of May or beginning of June or sometime in that time frame, we’ll see where it winds up,” Noland told board members.
The $945 million West Lake Corridor extension brings the South Shore Line from Gary about eight miles south to Dyer, with several stops along the way.
Overall, he said the West Lake project is about 90% complete, and it continues to clear some major hurdles. The new Hammond Gateway Station opened in October, along with the realignment of the existing South Shore Line tracks, where they’ll meet the West Lake branch.
Behind the scenes, the railroad also successfully changed its computer-aided dispatch system. Noland said a second option recently became available that was still compatible with its positive train control system.
“Everyone in the railroad industry is watching the success of this project because we’re the only ones that run the system across the country that do not run the Wabtec product,” Noland added.
Noland said he is excited by the fact that there’s now choice in the industry.
This article originally appeared on Lakeshore Public Media.