Long time lurker in Chicago threads.
There really needs to be a better link between the South Shore line and the terminal at the Gary airport before it becomes a magnet for passengers from throughout the region. Right now, the train lets off on the other side of the tollway over a mile from the terminal. A shuttle bus could suffice, but that's not good enough for the thousands of passengers a day who would hopefully be using this airport.
At full build-out, the aiport's
Master Plan calls for a single-location multimodal station for South Shore, intercity bus, Amtrak, and air passenger transfers. The master plan
map is awfully low resolution so I can't figure out what's going on; does anyone have further information on how they'd want to do this? Perhaps a relocation so that rather than running next to the tollway, the South Shore cuts through downtown East Chicago on the freight line that's there today. There could then be a stop in East Chicago east of the tollway. This would also place the South Shore tracks right next to the tracks used by Amtrak. Perhaps they could arrange to trade the freight right-of-way for the existing South Shore right-of-way along the tollway.