View source for South Bend Airport station

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox station
| style = NICTD
| name = South Bend Airport [[Image:20 airtransportation.svg|20px|link=South Bend International Airport]]
| image = South Bend Airport train station 2004-12 (8873641690).jpg
| image_caption = A South Shore Line train at South Bend Airport in 2004
| address = 4485 Progress Drive<br />[[South Bend, Indiana]]
| coordinates = {{coord|41.7008|-86.3110|region:US-IN_type:railwaystation|display=inline,title}}
| other = {{bus icon|12px|Local Transit}} [[South Bend Transpo|Transpo]]
| structure = 
| platform = 1 [[island platform]]
| levels = 
| tracks = 2
| parking = Yes
| bicycle = 
| passengers = 227 (average weekday)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://metra.com/sites/default/files/2021-02/2020_State_of_the_System_Report.pdf|page=SSL-4|title=2020 State of the System Report|date=November 2020|publisher=Metra}}</ref>
| pass_year = 2019
| pass_percent = 
| pass_system = 
| opened = November 20, 1992
| closed = 
| rebuilt = 
| electrified = Yes (1500 V [[Direct current|DC]])
| accessible = Yes
| code = 
| owned = [[NICTD]]
| zone = 11
| services = {{Adjacent stations|system=NICTD|line=South Shore|left=Hudson Lake}}
 | other_services2_header=Former services
 | other_services2_collapsible=yes
 | other_services2={{Adjacent stations|system=NICTD|line=South Shore|left=New Carlisle|note-left=Closed 1994}}
 | map_state = collapsed
 | route_map = {{Routemap|legend=track|inline=y|map=
 RP2!~MFADEg\lvENDE@F
 RP2\vPSTR(M)
 RP2\vPSTR(M)
 RP2\vPSTR(M)
 RP2q!~MFADEgq\RP1q!~RP1l!~RP2rf\RP1q!~vBUE\
 \SPLe
 \STR!~MFADEf ~~ ~~ ~~ {{rint|NICTD|SSL}} to {{stl|NICTD|Millennium}}
 }}
 | mapframe = yes
 | mapframe-custom = {{Infobox mapframe |shape=none |line=none |marker=rail |marker-color=#891b0f |zoom=15 }}
}}
[[File:South Bend Airport train station 2012-02.jpg|thumb|Interior view of the island platform of the South Bend Airport train station (2012)]]

'''South Bend Airport''' is a commuter train station on, and the eastern [[Terminal train station|terminus]] of, the [[South Shore Line (NICTD)|South Shore Line]]. Servicing [[South Bend International Airport]], the station is {{Convert|3|mi|km}} northwest of [[Downtown South Bend]], [[Indiana]]. In November 1992, the Airport station replaced the South Shore Line's former terminus at the [[South Bend (Amtrak station)|South Bend Amtrak Station]]. The new station was constructed at a cost of $1.8 million and dedicated on November 20, 1992.

The station has a waiting room. Because the station is incorporated into the South Bend International Airport building, riders can also take advantage of its extensive lounging areas, shops and a meditation room.

Until November 27, 2009, most eastbound weekend South Shore Line trains terminated at this station. Since then, those trips have been cut in half, creating much larger gaps in service, to improve on-time performance for South Shore trains, which had suffered because the section of the line between Michigan City and South Bend is almost entirely single-tracked. Thus, if the westbound train got delayed, the eastbound train would get delayed even more because it will need to wait for the westbound train to clear the track.<ref>[http://www.nictd.com/minutes/Mar272009.pdf NICTD March 2009 Board Meeting Minutes, p. 7]</ref>

==History==
Plans to move the South Shore Line station to the airport, creating an air, bus, and rail [[Intermodal passenger transport|intermodal]] terminal, had dated back to the mid-1970s by the airport authority.<ref>{{cite book |title=Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States, Volume 354 |date=1977 |publisher=United States Congress |page=354 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=STYcAQAAMAAJ |access-date=November 6, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Extension of the Airport Development Aid Program: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Aviation of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, First Session, on S. 1455 .... |date=1975 |publisher=United States Congress |pages=208–213 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSjQAAAAMAAJ |access-date=November 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1978: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, First Session, Part 4 |date=1977 |publisher=United States Congress |pages=1233–1234 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5poQAAAAIAAJ |access-date=November 7, 2019}}</ref><ref name="getsnewcars"/> In fact, plans to move the South Shore Line station there began to be formulated very shortly after the South Shore Line moved away from its [[South Bend station (South Shore Line)|stop in the city's downtown]], which required [[street running]], and into [[South Bend station|a newly constructed station]].<ref name="getsnewcars"/><ref name="how">{{cite web |last1=Parrott |first1=Jeff |title=How the South Shore took its current path |url=https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/how-the-south-shore-took-its-current-path/article_a00599b7-cbf8-576c-b376-9dce612f58c0.html |website=South Bend Tribune |access-date=27 November 2020 |language=en |date=19 July 2017}}</ref>

There was talk in the 1980s, for the South Shore Line to stop at the [[Union Station (South Bend, Indiana)|Union Station]] in downtown South Bend, either instead of or in addition to stopping at the airport.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kurowski |first1=Jeff |title=Perron pushers for extension of South Shore Line |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/516422232 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The South Bend Tribune |access-date=7 January 2021 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=12 Dec 1988}}</ref>

By 1989, the area surrounding the location of the South Bend's South Shore Line station that had been opened in the 1970s had come to be seen as an unsafe and isolated part of town.<ref name=dot1994>{{cite book |title=Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1994: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, One Hundred Third Congress, First Session |date=1993 |publisher=United States Congress |pages=1193–1224 |isbn=9780160411038 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eM3W-c_GgKIC |access-date=October 30, 2019}}</ref><ref name=industrialfoundation>{{cite web |title=Industrial Foundation Addresses Key Economic Development Issues |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/516569675 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The South Bend Tribune |access-date=6 January 2021 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=25 Jun 1989}}</ref> At this point, discussions had been ongoing about relocating the station to the airport for over a decade, but had been stalled by disagreement over the route that the train should take to get to the airport.<ref name="lugarstarts">{{cite web |last=Dodson |first=Paul |title=Lugar starts ball rolling on funding South Shore |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/516921098 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The South Bend Tribune |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=10 Sep 1989}}</ref> In 1989 the Venango River Corp., the parent company of the Chicago South Shore and South Bend, went bankrupt, and NICTD became the owner and operator of the South Shore Line.<ref name="how"/> Venango's owner was said to have supported moving the station to the airport, but was also said to have championed having it take a route that would run through the Ardmore neighborhood of South Bend, approaching the airport from its west.<ref name="how"/> In 1989, NICTD recommended moving the station to the airport, to provide what they believed would be a safer station at a more appealing location and with a large amount of available [[parking]].<ref name=industrialfoundation/>

[[File:South Bend Airport train station 2006-01.jpg|thumb|Train at the station's platform in 2006]]
There was hope that moving the station to the airport would position passenger air service at the airport as an alternative for northwest Indiana residents (an area also served by the South Shore Line) to [[Chicago]]'s airports [[Midway International Airport|Midway]] and [[O'Hare International Airport|O'Hare]].<ref name="eastyoungman">{{cite news |last=Wieland |first=Phil |date=November 21, 1992 |title=New train terminal could have folks heading east, young man |page=A2 |work=The Times |location=Munster, Indiana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25721476/the_times/ |via=Newspapers.com  |access-date=November 25, 2018}} {{free access}}</ref>

The station was built at the end of what started out as [[Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad]]'s freight spur.<ref>[http://web.me.com/willvdv/chirailfan/mmss.html "At South Bend, trains now go to the Michiana Regional Airport, using an industrial spur which had been upgraded and extended. The airport is northwest of downtown South Bend."]</ref> The physical location of the station was chosen due to the existence of the freight spur, but this alignment was originally intended to be only temporary.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plan to move South Shore station at South Bend airport receives new life |url=https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/plan-to-move-south-shore-station-at-south-bend-airport-receives-new-life/ |website=Trains |access-date=30 December 2022 |date=November 29, 2022}}</ref> The opening of a new station at the airport came on November 20, 1992.<ref name=getsnewcars>{{cite news |last=Wieland |first=Phil |date=November 18, 1992 |title=South Shore gets new cars |page=B3 |work=The Times |location=Munster, Indiana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25721269/the_times/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=November 25, 2018}} {{free access}}</ref> Approximately 200 people attended the opening ceremony.<ref name="eastyoungman"/> The new station cost $1.8 million, with NICTD paying approximately $1 million of the cost, and the rest being paid by the airport authority.<ref name="getsnewcars"/> The station was originally an open platform, but, as was planned from its initial construction,<ref>{{cite web |last=Porter |first=Don |title=South Shore Due Nov. 1 at Airport |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/520146806 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The South Bend Tribune |access-date=6 January 2021 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=4 Sep 1992}}</ref> was later covered soon after with the construction of a new passenger terminal addition connected to the station.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} From its opening, the station has been accessible to those with disabilities.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wieland |first1=Phil |title=New plan will make trains accessible to accessible |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/309802523 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=The Times |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=15 Dec 1992}}</ref>

At the time of the opening, sources for NICTD claimed that the station made the airport only the second airport in the United States to be served by a commuter railroad.<ref name="getsnewcars"/>

==Connections==
===Bus===
'''[[South Bend Transpo|Transpo]]'''
* Route 4: Lincoln Way West/Airport {{Rint|air|link=South_Bend_International_Airport}}

'''[[Coach USA]]'''
* Tri State/United Limo routes

==Proposed replacement==
{{see main|Proposed South Shore Line station in South Bend}}
There is a possibility that the station may be relocated or replaced. The current route that carries the South Shore Line to its existing station is considered slow and circuitous.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spencer |first1=Suzanne |title=South Shore to cut commute time from South Bend to Chicago |url=https://wsbt.com/news/local/south-shore-to-cut-commute-time-from-south-bend-to-chicago |website=WSBT |access-date=29 November 2020 |date=2 February 2015}}</ref> The top contending locations for a new location are the west side of the airport and the city's downtown.<ref name="nextstop">{{cite web |last1=Parrott |first1=Jeff |title=Next stop downtown? Buttigieg wants South Shore to run into the heart of South Bend |url=https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/next-stop-downtown-buttigieg-wants-south-shore-to-run-into/article_c56e5214-9907-5273-a286-7306e2b6ce0e.html |publisher=South Bend Tribune |access-date=15 November 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.nictd.com/stations.html South Shore Line - Stations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615211043/http://www.nictd.com/stations.html |date=June 15, 2009 }}
* [http://www.sbnair.com/stations.html South Bend Regional Airport]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{South Bend, Indiana}}
{{South Shore Line navbox}}

[[Category:South Shore Line stations in Indiana]]
[[Category:Airport railway stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Transportation in South Bend, Indiana]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in South Bend, Indiana]]
[[Category:Railway stations in St. Joseph County, Indiana]]
[[Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1992]]