South Shore to consider Bi-Cars

Once again the South Shore is years late, and millions of dollars short. They should have been talking about this 3 years ago, when the plans for the Dan Ryan reconstruction were being announced. Instead they are looking at add these cars right about the time the Ryan would reopen, rendering them useless. In the meantime, we are going to have 3 years of misery crammed into over-capacity train cars, because Jack Parsons has the vision of Stevie Wonder.

The article is lovingly stolen from the Michigan City News Dispatch.

South Shore considers bi-level cars

By Scot Squires The News-Dispatch

Provided The South Shore Railroad may purchase bi-level cars like this one used by Metra.

Railroad says many of its trains are operating at full capacity

To help alleviate crowded passenger trains, South Shore Railroad officials are looking to buy 12 new cars - possibly double-deckers.

“We are at capacity,” said John Parsons, spokesman for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which operates the South Shore. “We are interested in getting new equipment.”

The new cars will take at least 18 to 24 months to acquire, which doesn't offer much help for what is expected to be a summer of gridlock on Chicago-area highways.

Major highways leading into Illinois and the Windy City are slated to undergo construction in the coming months, and the South Shore may not provide much relief for commuters because many trains are already full, and ridership continues to climb.

In 2005, ridership increased 7.3 percent over 2004. Already this year, the number of passengers is up 10.7 percent during January and February over last year, Parsons said.

If the railroad decides to purchase bi-level passenger cars, it would be a first for the South Shore, which borrowed double-decker cars for a short time from Metra in the early 1990s while it waited for its own new trains.

While those Metra trains used a diesel-powered locomotive, the South Shore cars would be electric-powered.

The double-deckers hold 148 passengers compared to 133 seats in the current cars. But there are some drawbacks.

Officials with NICTD have to be sure the new cars will work at all stations along the route, which extends from downtown Chicago to the South Bend Regional Airport. The bi-level cars only have doors that open in the middle for elevated boarding. The South Shore needs to have stairs for some stations that don't have platforms.

In addition, the bi-level cars won't be able to attach to the current trains, Parsons said. That means the new cars can only be connected to other new cars.

And, Parsons said, regardless of whether the railroad purchases single or bi-level cars, “We would have to have additional storage facilities.”

The bi-level cars under consideration are like the 26 new cars Metra recently purchased for part of their Illinois route. Those cars were manufactured in Japan and assembled in the United States.

To pay for the new equipment, NICTD is requesting $31.2 million in federal funds through the Indiana Department of Transportation and another $7.8 million in matching funds from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

The NICTD board is expected to further discuss purchasing new cars at its meeting, which is at 10 a.m. Friday, March 31, at the Chesterton office.