The idea of a direct rail link from the Gary/Chicago International Airport to downtown Chicago is gaining steam and giving a push to other dormant rail plans.
A number of board members on the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority think a direct rail link from the airport to downtown is a "common sense way to move forward," according to RDA Executive Director Tim Sanders.
"There are those on the board that think absent this connection to downtown Chicago, the Gary airport will have a hard time," Sanders said.
However, whether that link becomes a long-term goal or gets done sooner depends on a number of factors, including possible rerouting of South Shore commuter rails and funding, Sanders said.
The idea also is giving hope to those with other plans for cutting down rail travel times from Chicago to points east.
An Amtrak official recently took Sanders for a ride in a SUV along unused railroad rights-of-way in the shadow of the Chicago Skyway to show him a route Amtrak long has coveted to speed train times into Chicago.
Amtrak trains now coming from the east must cross myriad freight tracks, according to Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari. That means a traveler can spend 6 1/2 hours riding from Detroit to Northwest Indiana and then another hour or so viewing the Chicago Skyline before the tracks clear for the run into Chicago.
The rights-of-way Amtrak wants to utilize pass just north of the airport and on to Porter County. So that line could be the airport's direct link to Chicago, Sanders said.
Talk of a direct rail link also is raising hopes among high-speed rail proponents and the Four Cities Consortium that earlier plans for a $300 million intermodal transportation center on the north side of the airport could get new life.
The Indiana High Speed Rail Association plans to lobby state legislators and federal legislators this fall on plans for linking Chicago to Detroit, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Louisville by high speed rail, according to Dennis Hodges, founder of the Indiana High Speed Rail Association.
The proposed intermodal transportation center north of the Gary airport would be the second-busiest station after Chicago on the proposed high-speed rail network, Hodges said.
The intermodal transportation center and a rail link to downtown Chicago have always been part of the discussion when it comes to airport development, said Airport Director Chris Curry.
"It would be a tremendous benefit to have that (rail link) because that really allows you to tap directly into the business community of the city (Chicago)," Curry said.
Gary's appointee to the RDA, Bill Joiner, said a direct rail link for the airport has come up in the discussion of the South Shore extension to Lowell and Valparaiso.
As mapped out, riders could get from Lowell and Valparaiso to downtown Chicago via the South Shore extension, but not to the Gary airport. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott has proposed a Hammond "Gateway" station, which would allow for such a run.
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