South Shore Line passengers could begin paying more for their rides this summer to help pay for a new safety system.
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District’s board, which governs the South Shore, voted Friday for five public hearings in April on the proposed increase. The board will vote on the fares at its May 18 meeting.
The hearings will be in Hammond, Gary, Chesterton, Michigan City and South Bend. The dates haven’t been announced, but all would be in the evenings.
The fare increase, particularly for monthly tickets, would average about 5 percent.
Michael Noland, railroad’s president and general manager, said income from the new fares, estimated at $1.2 million yearly, would go to the cost of operating Positive Train Control (PTC), a computerized system that can take over a train’s operation if the engineer fails to take a required action.
The Federal Railroad Administration requires that all railroads have PTC by the end of this year. The South Shore is paying for the capital cost with a $102 million bond issue but will need to hire about 11 more employees to run the system, Noland said.
He said PTC equipment is being installed in South Shore cars now, and testing will begin this summer.
Also at the meeting:
*Noland said the fiscal year 2018 budget passed this week by Congress has positive implications for the South Shore’s major capital projects — the $661 million West Lake Corridor extension from Hammond to Dyer and the $321 million double-track installation from Gary to Michigan City. The railroad hopes to get 50 percent federal funding for both in the 2019 fiscal year.
The Trump administration wanted to eliminate funding for new capital projects to expand transit systems, but the 2018 federal budget has included money for those.
“We now have a strong indication from Congress that they continue to support the capital investment grant program,” Noland said. “It’s an indication our projects have a pathway forward.”
He also said that the Federal Transit Administration’s recent approval of West Lake’s environmental impact statement allows the South Shore to begin acquiring property for the project. However, the railroad is holding off until it meets with the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Administration and state officials “to discuss the pathway forward,” Noland said.
Similarly, property acquisition for the double-track project can’t begin until it receives the FTA’s environmental approval, which Noland expects later this year.
NICTD board member Mark Yagelski, a LaPorte County representative, said some Michigan City residents have been asking him, “When are you going to buy my house?”
*The NICTD board approved a $1.1 million contract with AECOM, an engineering and design firm headquartered in Los Angeles, to design and oversee construction of another building for access between the East Chicago station’s parking lot and platform, the railroad’s busiest in Indiana.
The work includes realigning the tracks near the station to allow passenger trains to approach and leave faster. Board member David Pranckus, a South Shore engineer, said that would save a couple of minutes each trip.
The Federal Railroad Administration gave NICTD a $2.7 million grant in 2016 for the project, which Noland said could cost $7.6 million. Construction could start next year.
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Board President Christine Cid, of East Chicago, asked if the new building would have an elevator. She was told it would include an elevator shaft but not the elevator itself at this time.
*The South Shore’s “kids ride free” program is expanded to all trains from March 24 to April 7. Up to three children under 14 years old, accompanied by a parent or guardian, can ride free. Normally, that’s available only on weekend, holiday and non-rush-hour trains.
Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.