The Hoosier State is a great way for Lafayette and Rensselaer residents to see Chicago for a day, then come home. The train leaves in the early morning and returns in the middle of the evening. Travelers can choose between coach and business class on the days that the Hoosier State runs: the coach seats are quite good but the business class seats are even more comfortable and the ticket comes with a free meal cooked on the train.
It is less excellent when visiting Indianapolis. Travelers pull into Union Station, on the south edge of downtown Indianapolis, around midnight. The train leaves for Lafayette at six in the morning.
It would be desirable to add service from Lafayette to Indianapolis, but there are obstacles that go beyond the willingness to pay a reasonable subsidy. Below is a partial list.
The CSX line between Lafayette and Indianapolis is mostly single-track. The CSX tracks leaving Indianapolis become single tracks before leaving the Indianapolis city limits. Trains sharing the same length of track cannot go in different directions: one must wait on a siding while the other goes through. In contrast, Metra trains that serve the Illinois suburbs of Chicago travel on rights-of-way that boast multiple tracks. For example, the Union Pacific Northwesy Metra line that runs through Arlington Heights to Harvard enjoys triple tracks to Barrington, then double tracks the rest of the way. The Illinois Central line is at least double-tracked through its end in University Park.
Indianapolis is a highly dispersed city. Indianapolis’ most intense retail district might be the malls on the northeast side that sprawl into Fishers. A large center of employment can be found along the north flank of I-465 in Carmel and the far north side of Indianapolis. No train tracks connect Carmel and downtown Indianapolis, and building on the old Monon right-of-way will destroy a 20-mile recreational trail that both cities intensely promote. Commuters would have to board a bus for the trip to work, and such a bus would travel along congested Meridian Street.
The potential ridership is not large. Lafayette and West Lafayette, combined, have about 110,000 people. Crawfordsville has about 16,000. Brownsburg, if added, would bring 25,000 potential riders. For comparison’s sake. the Lake County, Indiana cities along the South Shore Line have 186,000 people. Across the county line, Portage brings 37,000 people and Chesterton another 13,000. To this, add riders who get on in Chicago’s Hegewisch neighborhood who also come from Calumet City and Burnham, the Hammond suburbs (Highland, Munster), the Orange bus line from Valparaiso (weekends) and the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago.
One daily round trip would not be sufficient for work commutes. In theory, a train can leave Lafayette at 7:05 and arrive in Indianapolis at 8:45, just in time for business hours. It would leave Indianapolis at the close of business at around 5:30 pm, returning to Lafayette at 7:10 pm. In practice, not every workday starts at 9 am: some start at 8 am. So, another train is required for early commuters. Also, since people do not like being stranded overnight in Indianapolis if they have to stay late, a train back to Lafayette leaving at 6:30 pm would be helpful.
The tracks are slow compared to I-65 and I-74, most days. The CSX speed limit is 60 mph and some sections of track get very bumpy at that speed. CSX speed limits are even lower in populated areas. Trains must stop to let passengers board and get off the train, and they must also stop to let freight trains through. The Wikipedia cites an INRIX report about American traffic congestion, which states that Indianapolis commuters average 24.9 hours stopped in traffic. (Chicagoans spend 34.2 hours, while Angelenos spend 64.4 hours.)
Buses may be a better option. They are certainly easier and cheaper to purchase, house and staff. They can run on existing highways. The trade-off is that buses cannot run safely during severe weather or after large accumulations of snow or ice, but such days are usually confined to the cold season (November to March).
For example, the City of Valparaiso’s ChicaGoDASH runs four buses every day to and from downtown Chicago, a distance of about. A round-trip costs only $16.00. Passengers enjoy free parking in Valparaiso, bicycle racks, WiFi and other amenities. The buses in Valparaiso make no intermediate stops, so they run fairly quickly.
The Lafayette Sentinel 