USA: An agreement to double-track nearly 28 km of main line south of Lake Michigan has been signed by Anacostia Rail Holdings’ Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District and utility company Northern Indiana Public Service Co.
This will result in a 41 km section of CSS’s line between Gary and Michigan City being completely double tracked, improving freight and commuter services in northern Indiana.
The $300m project will be financed by a combination of federal, state and private funds and is expected to be completed by April 2024.
The partners are also involved in negotiations over land swaps to relieve a bottleneck at Burns Harbor where CSS freight and NICTD’s South Shore Line passenger trains share the single track line. Once the project is completed, CSS will be able to perform freight shunting operations north of the main line, and land occupied by NIPSCO’s closed Bailly Generation Station will be available for development.
‘Ultimately, the upgrade and land swap will increase growth possibilities for CSS freight customers’, said CSS President Todd Bjornstad on January 7.
