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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

South Bend (Amtrak Station)

South Bend is a train station in South Bend, Indiana. It is served by Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited between Chicago, Boston and New York City, and Capitol Limited between Chicago and Washington, D.C. The station was built by the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad in 1970; South Shore Line trains continued to use it until 1992.

History

Until 1970, South Shore Line interurbans served downtown South Bend at LaSalle and Michigan, where there had been a stop since 1908. The city had long wanted to eliminate street running, while the South Shore was looking to reduce costs as passenger traffic declined. The South Shore embarked on a program to consolidate its operations in South Bend. This included constructing the current station building at Meade and Washington and selling the old downtown station building, which had opened in 1921.

On August 7, 1969, South Bend mayor Lloyd M. Allen announced that the railroad would move its station. Allen claimed that for the past five years he had been working to persuade them to move the station. The station opened in 1970.

When Amtrak took over intercity rail service in 1971, it moved intercity rail service in South Bend to this station, away from the larger Union Station.

The South Shore Line moved its terminus to a new terminal at the South Bend International Airport in November 1992, although the track that used to terminate here was retained.

In the 1990s, there was some discussion of moving Amtrak to the Union Station. Subsequently, there were plans to build a new Amtrak station component at South Bend Transpo's South Street Station. Ultimately, this never materialized.

In the late-2010s, returning the South Shore Line to this location was studied as one of several options for replacing the current South Shore Line station.