South Shore Freight steps in to help stranded Indiana passengers

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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Anacostia Rail Holdings

An estimated 5,500 Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) South Shore Line riders were stranded on Jan. 12 following a "severe flash freeze situation."

Weather conditions allowed ice to buildup on NICTD’s overhead wires and train pantagraphs, impairing train operation and eventually causing the suspension of service along the line, but not before passengers on several trains were stuck waiting to be transported back to their stations of origin – some waiting for as long as five hours.

Michael Noland, president and general manager of the South Shore Line, issued a letter of apology to riders, which read in part, “We will be conducting an investigation into [the Jan. 12] service disruption to determine where we can improve our service to you, our customers. You should expect better performance, including enhanced communications, from us and we are committed to making this a top priority. We all know that extreme weather events like that which occurred today can happen again, and we assure you that we will be better prepared to respond.”

One hero to emerge from the situation was the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad (CSS), which sent locomotives and train crews to assist returning South Shore passengers to their boarding stations.

CSS received a call for help from NICTD about 10:45 a.m. on Jan. 12 to help trains stranded at Wilson and Hegewisch, Ill. CSS AF4 crew towed trains 110 and 112 from Wilson to Michigan City, Ind., and NICTD used CSS locomotives to move two other stranded passenger trains.

“We were glad to pitch in and help,” says CSS Freight President Todd Bjornstad.

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