The South Shore commuter railroad has approved several changes in its train schedule that will take effect Sept. 5.
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District board at a meeting Friday approved the consolidation of Train 114, an 8:06 a.m. train from Michigan City to Chicago, with Train 14, an 8:48 a.m. train out of South Bend. That means all of Train 14's previous stops from 2008-09 will be restored.
Changes on the eastbound route include the consolidation of Train 211, a 4:10 p.m. train from Chicago's Millennium Station to Gary, and Train 11, a 3:58 departure from Millennium Station, with all of train 11's previous stops restored.
Also, Train 115 will depart Chicago at 5:28 p.m. and run nonstop from Van Buren Street in Chicago to East Chicago while Train 215 will depart Chicago at 5:32 p.m. and make all stops except East Chicago.
An eastbound route change also includes Train 107's departure time changing from 10:10 to 10:45 a.m., an effort to provide a more evenly spaced departure time between eastbound trains.
NICTD General Manager Gerald Hanas said there would be no direct job layoffs because of the changes.
The board also announced a planned temporary weekend outage Aug. 7 to 9 has been canceled.
The cancellation is good news for commuters interested in two major events that weekend: the Great Lakes Super Boat Grand Prix in Michigan City and the Lollapalooza music festival at Chicago's Grant Park.
The next weekend temporary service outage is scheduled from Aug. 28 to 30. South Shore will not operate trains in either direction between South Bend and Gary Metro Center from 2:30 a.m. Saturday through 3 a.m. Monday.
The South Shore also announced changes to accommodate the upcoming Notre Dame football season. The eastbound train scheduled to arrive in South Bend in advance of the games is Train 503, departing Millennium Station at 8:40 a.m. region time and arriving at South Bend Airport at 11:10 p.m. region time.
On home game Saturdays only, the South Shore will operate a special westbound departure from South Bend Airport to Chicago two hours after the conclusion of the game.
