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THE SOUTH SHORE LINE An "interurban" is a street car line that carries passengers from city to city rather than within a city. In the early 1900s, interurbans competed with railroads for intercity passenger business. An interurban that never stopped running was the Chicago, South Shore, and South Bend. It provides commuter service from South Bend, Indiana, along the South Shore of Lake Michigan, to Chicago. |
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A South Shore interurban car rolls down
a street.
Interurban equipment tended to be larger and heavier than city street cars. |
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The South Shore Line is operated by a government agency named the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. It is called NICTD (Nick-tee-dee) for short. NICTD uses state and local tax dollars plus U.S. Government funds to subsidize its electrified commuter trains. |
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The South Shore Line doubles as a freight railroad. Side tracks to industry and freight yards are not electrified, so freight trains are pulled by diesel locomotives such as these. |