South Shore Line (NICTD) - Equipment Roster

Equipment Roster

The South Shore Line operates with a roster of 82 rail cars built between 1982 and 2009 by Nippon Sharyo. Sixty-eight cars are single level and 14 are gallery style bi-level cars. Most cars have high platform level double doors in the center and single doors at both ends. The single doors have employee operated traps that allow passengers to board at low level platforms. At high level platform stations, all doors on the cars in service open for faster boarding. At low level platform stations, only one door per car is opened.

Of the 68 single level cars, 48 are self-propelled cars with cabs at both ends. Forty-four of these cars were delivered between 1982 and 1983, with the final four (along with replacements for damaged cars) delivered in 1992; each car, which can operate independently, is identified by numbers "1" through "48," has a restroom and space for wheelchairs, but no support for bicycles. Illinois' RTA funded the purchase of eight of the single level cars, which are numbered 31–38.

In 1992, 10 trailers with no cabs, motors, restroom facilities, center doors, or wheelchair space were added to the fleet. Removing the restroom, wheelchair space, and center doors allowed these cars to carry more passengers than the full service cars; the trailers are numbered 201–210.

In 2001, 10 more self-propelled cars were added to the fleet. These are similar to the full service cars in design, except for having no restroom facility and having a cab on only one end. The single cab cars are numbered 101–110, with odd numbered cars having their cab on the east end of the car, and even numbered cars having their cab on the west end.

The maximum length of a single level car train is eight cars. When used, trailers are always placed between cab cars in a train. Self-propelled cars can operate as a single car train, although this is rarely done.

In 2009, 14 bi-level gallery style cars were added to the fleet, and are assigned numbers 301–314. These cars were purchased by NICTD at a discount (less than the potential cost of single level cars), as they use the same basic design as the 26 bi-level cars delivered to the Metra Electric District in Chicago in 2005. The gallery cars have a cab at one end and a single pantograph for collecting power from the overhead wire; a restroom and wheelchair space is also provided. A minimum of two gallery cars is needed to build a train, with one cab facing each direction. Due to power sub-station restrictions, the maximum length of a gallery car train is six cars; additionally, gallery cars cannot be mixed with single level cars in the same consist.

At the time the gallery cars were ordered, concerns over the price of gasoline along, with the growing population of Northern Indiana, led to increased ridership of the South Shore Line, requiring the addition of new passenger railway cars to the line. However, an economic recession put a sizable dent in ridership statistics.