TransfersThe opening of the Monon Corridor on March 31st, 2026, put in to effect a new feature of ticketing on the South Shore Railroad - the transfer. Passengers are allowed to transfer trains between the Lakeshore Corridor (historic CSS*SB tracks from Chicago to South Bend) and the Monon Corridor (eight mile extension in western Lake County).Passengers purchase one ticket specifying their origin and destination. When they reach Hammond Gateway station they change to a train on the other corridor. Transfers are available for passengers connecting between a Monon Corridor shuttle train to a Lakeshore Corridor train regardless of if the passenger is travelling east or west of Hammond on the Lakeshore Corridor. Passengers walk between the lower level Lakeshore Corridor platform and the upper level Monon Corridor platform. Adequate time is provided for all connection between Chicago and the Monon Corridor. The charts below show how the schedules of the two corridors match up (or fail to match in some cases) and the length of time a passenger must wait for a connection. The schedule design focuses on passengers traveling between Chicago and Monon Corridor stations. The weekday schedules include the direct trains between Chicago and Munster/Dyer. The length of wait time for passengers transferring is typically 14-15 minutes, but several connections are longer to avoid conflicts with the shuttle schedule. (More information about long transfers at the bottom of this page.) Shuttle trains with transfers have also been proposed for service between South Bend and Michigan City. Monon Weekday Schedule 
Trains shaded blue (300 series) do not require a transfer and do not stop at Hammond Gateway. Additional Lakeshore Corridor trains stopping at Hammond Gateway are not shown. Monon Weekend Schedule 
All weekend trains serving Hammond Gateway on either corridor are shown. Connections between the Monon Corridor and the eastern Lakeshore Corridor are allowed but the connection times are not as convenient as the connection for Chicago trains. Weekday Connections (Monon to East of Hammond)  Weekend Connections (Monon to East of Hammond) 
Long TransfersOne of the complaints about the transfers at Hammond Gateway is the long delay on some of the connections. Some commenters have overlooked the 14-15 minutes provided for most transfers (13 of the 18 weekday transfers are 14-15 minutes). The longer transfer times are marked below. See the diagram below for morning shuttle trains (8am-3pm). Train 105 arrives at Hammond Gateway at 8:24am. The equipment for train 1105 arrives at 8:42am as train 1120. Train 1105 departs at 8:59am. Arriving earlier would extend the time between the arrival of 1120 and the departure of 120. The additional 20 minutes is applied to the eastbound train. Train 109 arrives at Hammond Gateway at 11:10am. The equipment for train 1109 arrives at 11:28am as train 1122. Train 1109 departs at 11:45am. As with 1120, arriving earlier would extend the time between the arrival of 1122 and the departure of 122. The additional 20 minutes is applied to the eastbound train. Train 1126 arrives at Hammond Gateway at 2:15pm. The equipment for 1126 is used for train 1111 departing at 2:34pm. Train 126 departs at 3:03pm. 1126 arriving closer to the departure of 126 would extend the time between the arrival of 111 and the departure of 1111. (Delaying 1111 would also affect train 1226 connecting to train 226.) Only one shuttle train can be north of South Hammond at a time so the only ways to shorten the timing on these three trains would be to delay all six shuttle trains (reducing the delay for passengers on 1105, 1109 and 1126 but adding a more time to 1120, 1122 and 1111) or adjusting the schedules of the Lakeshore Corridor trains.  Afternoon peak trains are shown below with 303 returning to Chicago as 312. 312 and 305 pass at the siding just south of the South Hammond passenger station. Shuttles resume after 7pm. Train 1032 arrives at Hammond Gateway at 8:52pm. The equipment for 1032 is used for train 1033 departing at 9:13pm. Train 32 departs at 9:25pm. Arriving later would extend the time between the arrival of 33 and the departure 1033 and would also further affect the timing of 1133. Train 133 arrives at Hammond Gateway at 9:46pm. The equipment for train 1133 arrives at 9:58pm as train 1062. Train 1133 departs at 10:13pm. The shuttle train departs the Munster station at 9:43pm minutes before the arrival of 133 at Hammond. Reducing this transfer time would require shortening the time spent turning the trains.  While the extended transfer delays to add time to the trip between Monon stations and Chicago, the transfers provide additional options for passengers. Weekends All weekend Monon Corridor trains run as shuttles. The longer transfer times are marked below.  Weekend morning shuttles match up well with 14-15 minute transfers. Note that the first eastbound train is 503 at 9:08am (there is no train 501). Due to the spacing between trains 506 and 608 there is not enough time to run the shuttle back to Munster/Dyer to meet both trains.  The weekend Lakeshore Corridor afternoon schedule has a meet of trains 507 and 508 within two minutes at Hammond Gateway. Transfers are available to and from the shuttle train. The weekend afternoon schedule has three trains where an eastbound train arrives 25-34 minutes before a westbound train. The Monon schedule has been set to provide the standard 15 minute connection to eastbound passengers and extend the westbound connection time.  Shuttle trains continue into the night with passengers from the last eastbound train from Chicago able to transfer and continue their trip to Munster/Dyer.  |