July 12, 2024
Dear South Shore Line Riders,
This is the fourth letter in our series of bi-weekly updates regarding service improvements since the start of the new Double Track project schedule. Over the course of the last two weeks, we have received your feedback about our service. Thank you for taking the time to share your likes, dislikes, and recommendations for further improvements. Survey participation was strong, with over 2,500 responses. We are in the process of reviewing your comments at this time, but have already identified a number of themes that I will share with you now.
First, and not surprisingly, you want us to improve our on-time performance. We did not need a survey to know that this would be high on your list of priorities, but it was certainly a very constant theme. Second, we had a great number of riders express their appreciation for the new schedule, especially the frequency of the additional weekday trains that have been added. We also received some specific requests for additional service, including at our Hegewisch station and at 57th Street. Finally, we received a lot of commentary about improvements to our weekend schedule, including the addition of a mid-afternoon train from Chicago and a late-night train to enable our riders to use our service to return home after events in Chicago.
We are working to incorporate your feedback into our revised schedule. Our goal is to implement this schedule in early August. We will publish this new schedule well in advance of that date to afford you plenty of time to make proper adjustments to your station arrival/departure times. The new schedule is designed to address many of the improvements listed above, as well as give us a chance to significantly improve on-time performance.
The new schedule will include more strategic scheduling of train interconnections when we transition onto the Metra Electric District line at Kensington Interlocking through to Millenium Station in Chicago to minimize South Shore Lines following Metra local trains (which can slow us down) as much as possible. In addition, we will add extra schedule time to several trains, especially in the weekday off-peak period, in order to account for the on-going construction on the Metra Electric District corridor that is expected to last over the next 2-3 years as they upgrade their stations. Lastly, we are restoring the “D” stop provision to our timetable that allows certain trains, primarily our eastbound service from Chicago, to depart up to 5 minutes ahead of their scheduled departure time if we arrive at a station early. These “D” stops will be noted in the new Timetable.
As I have stated in my past three letters, I continue to ask you to be patient with us and once again reaffirm that we are working daily to find opportunities to improve our service.
Best regards,
Michael Noland
President
South Shore Line/NICTD