Monon Corridor 101

It will take approximately 45 min to 1 hour to go from Dyer to Millennium Station in Chicago depending on the number of intermediate stops (some trains skip certain stops per the schedule.)

28 trains will operate daily on weekdays, and 29 trains will operate daily on weekends. Below is a summary of the draft schedule.

Train Schedule

• Weekday Inbound Service (to Chicago):6 Trains (5 morning rush hour, 1 afternoon)
• Weekday Outbound Service (from Chicago): 6 Trains (1 morning, 5 afternoon rush hour)
• Weekday Shuttle Service – Between Munster/Dyer and Hammond Gateway: 22 Trains to connect to Lakeshore service
• Weekend Shuttle Service – Between Munster/Dyer and Hammond Gateway: 24 Trains to connect to Lakeshore service

• The schedule has trains operating between 5am and Midnight on weekdays and between 7:30am and 2:00am on weekends.

A preview of the fare structure for the new stations is now available on our website. Go to https://mysouthshoreline.com/tickets/tickets-fares/ and choose “Download Fare Table Including Monon Corridor Stations”.

Parking will be free at all new Monon Corridor stations.

All required sound barriers are being installed per NICTD’s Final Environmental Impact Statement Appendix G6. Details can be found here: http://nictdwestlake.com/assets/documents/FEIS_ROD_AppG6.pdf.

All required sound barriers are installed as of Spring 2025.

Grading and landscaping will occur on any disrupted ground and in areas where tree removal occurred.

The quantity of passengers using each station will vary by location. NICTD conducted a study in March of 2018 forecasting the ridership following revenue service. These projections can be found on the NICTD West Lake Website under Resources. FEIS G2 Section 2: http://www.nictdwestlake.com/assets/documents/FEIS_ROD_AppG2.pdf. However, this information was analyzed prior to the COVID pandemic. NICTD will be closely monitoring ridership trends at the Monon Corridor stations, including any passengers shifting from the old stations to the new.

The gates at 173rd Street will be down for longer periods of time only when passengers are boarding the Southbound (Eastbound) trains at the South Hammond Station.

In locations where the Monon Pedestrian/Bike Trail is directly adjacent to the new railroad, a chain link barrier fence has been installed to prevent pedestrians and bikers from coming near the tracks. An example of this fence can be found between Waltham Street and 165^th Street in Hammond.

The South Shore Line is working with the communities of Munster and Dyer to construct two single-lane emergency-use-only egress paved roadway connections to Seminary Drive and Margo Lane, respectively. These connections will have gates at the property limits and removable bollards at the  roadway access points. The primary reason the egress points would be used is if the roadway underneath the CSX Main Street Underpass is ever blocked or inaccessible. NICTD and Munster and/or Dyer PD will coordinate if those emergency exits ever have to be accessed. These access paved connections can be used by pedestrians when vehicular traffic is not using it.

Pending further discussions with the communities, the South Shore Line will maintain property owned by the railroad as can be viewed via the Lake County GIS mapping system.

The South Shore Line decided to name it’s new extension the Monon Corridor in honor of the Monon Railroad, which historically operated on the rail corridor between Hammond and Dyer. The Monon Railroad carried passengers and freight on this right-of-way from 1884 until 1971, when it was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). The L&N and its successor CSX continued service on this corridor until 1989 when service ended and the line was sold to a group consisting of the City of Hammond, the Town of Munster and the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD). This group had a future vision to use this right-of-way to build a new, electrified railroad line that would connect with NICTD’s South Shore Line near the Illinois State Line, building new stations and preserving the recreational trail beside it. That vision led to the reality of our new Monon Corridor.

Passengers who have purchased multi-ride tickets (10-ride, 25-ride, monthly) from their Lakeshore Corridor origin station will be permitted to continue to utilize those same tickets at a Monon Corridor station throughout the end of April 2026. For example, passengers who have purchased April monthly tickets to/from a Lakeshore station will be permitted to use that same ticket to/from their new Monon station throughout the month of April. Passengers who have remaining rides after April 2026 can request a refund for any unused tickets.