City of South Bend buys Union Station; Will passenger rail service return to downtown?

[SecondCreek]

https://wsbt.com/news/local/city-south- ... nt-indiana#

The South Bend Union Station was most recently used to house a data center.

The Studebaker Building referenced in the article is specifically the former Studebaker Administration Bulding at 635 S. Main Street. You can see a notch built into the SE corner of the building which was put in place for a railroad track that connected the PRR Vandalia Line to the NYC line, prior to the elevation of the NYC (and Grand Trunk) mainlines onto a viaduct through downtown South Bend.

The Studebaker plant itself had its own in house railroad and switchers. It connected to the NYC, PRR, NJI&I (Wabash), and Indiana Northern.

[~Z~]

Going to need a way to get folks onto the southern tracks to continue on NS, or get another crossover from CN to NS further east of the station. Good location overall though, right next to the greyhound bus station and a baseball stadium.

[justalurker66]

The South Bend Union Station was most recently used to house a data center.

The data center use will remain (offices will move to another building). The seller of Union Station bought and renovated the building keeping the great hall for receptions and parties. He is selling the great hall portion to the city as it gives the building the best chance of having a viable future. The city can get federal funding to make changes to support the return of rail services.

Going to need a way to get folks onto the southern tracks to continue on NS, or get another crossover from CN to NS further east of the station. Good location overall though, right next to the greyhound bus station and a baseball stadium.

What was the layout in 1971 when the last passenger train served Union Station? The station was built the year after the track elevation in South Bend in 1927.

It appears that there was a platform north of track 1 between what is now the NS and the CN. If they can revive the tunnel and install an elevator and stairs (or ADA compliant ramps) no track work would be needed. NS would need to make sure Amtrak is always on track 1 as they do in Elkhart (eastbound track 2 arrivals can cross over at the platform and be served on track 1).

The big dream (not mine) is to bring the South Shore to downtown South Bend but that will require a lot more money than building a platform and access. NICTD wants a dedicated track north of the NS if they return to downtown. NICTD is open to the idea of running trains to downtown but is currently moving forward with plans to build a new airport station on the west side of the airport cutting 15 minutes off of the trip to Michigan City and Chicago.