The Munster/Dyer Main Street Station on the Monon Corridor will open to passengers Tuesday. John J. Watkins, The Times
Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District officials continued Monday to work through late-project change orders and remedial tasks on the South Shore Line's West Lake Corridor project, but approval of those items at the regular Board of Trustees meeting was overshadowed by anticipation of Tuesday's opening of the project's long-awaited 8-mile rail line through Hammond and Munster.
The Monon Corridor will open to passengers after a ribbon-cutting Tuesday morning at the Hammond Gateway Station. By midday it will start operating its regular schedule, with non-stop morning and evening trains to and from Chicago, and shuttle trains running through Munster and Hammond at non-peak times and on weekends, connecting to trains to Chicago at the Gateway.
Monday's meeting was also the first for the railroad's new president, Dave Dech, who said he's spending his first weeks meeting employees and getting to know the railroad and its surroundings, while preparing for the Monon opening.
"It has been really impressive to see the amount of work and hours and time that staff here at every level is putting on to make sure that the Monon is buttoned up and as ready to go as could possibly be, and make tomorrow a very nice event for everybody," he said.
Dech said the railroad has completed its simulated service runs in advance of the start of revenue service.
"We've run pre-revenue service the last week, including rush hour trains to and from Chicago to test and stress the schedule," he said.
Dech said safety and security certification activities have been completed, and the contractor F.H. Paschen Ragnar Benson is completing punch list items and taking on last-minute change order work.
Remedial work includes installation of a new transformer at the southern end of the line, stemming from the failure of the first set of transformers installed along the corridor. The last transformer will be "installed, tested and energized in early April," Dech said. The contractor team also needs to do track work in the area of Hammond Gateway during a couple of weekends in April, Dech said, which will involve temporary road closures of Sheffield Avenue and Holman Avenue with some impact on train service.
As Monor Corridor service starts, the South Shore will have representatives of its dispatch system provider on site to help "stress" that aspect of its operations, and will have customer service staff at stations to aid passengers.
"This is new for everybody, so we're going to have a pretty good presence out there to make sure people are going the right direction," Dech said. That includes making sure passengers understand when and how transferring trains is necessary during off-peak hours at Hammond Gateway.
Railroad administrators will be watching ridership in the early days and weeks of the corridor's operation, and will be willing to consider schedule changes, Dech said, prompted either by passengers or by the engineers and conductors operating the trains.
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