Hammond–Whiting station

Hammond–Whiting is an Amtrak intercity train station in Hammond, Indiana. The station is along the former Pennsylvania Railroad Fort Wayne Line, now owned by Norfolk Southern Railway. North of the station lies the former Baltimore and Ohio (now CSX) and Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad (now Canadian National) tracks. The station building and parking lot lies on the former New York Central Railroad mainline. Hammond–Whiting opened on September 11, 1982. Until the early 2000s, it was served by all Amtrak service that ran east from Chicago; today, it is only served by two daily Wolverine round trips.

Hammond–Whiting, IN
Hammond–Whiting station building in 2010
Location1135 South Calumet Avenue
Hammond, Indiana
United States
Coordinates41°41′28″N 87°30′24″W
Owned byAmtrak
Line(s)Norfolk Southern Chicago Line
Platforms1
Tracks4
Construction
Parking10 short term and 103 long term parking spaces
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Station codeAmtrak code: HMI
History
OpenedSeptember 12, 1982[1]:257
Passengers
201711,321[2] 90.2%
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Chicago
Terminus
Wolverine Michigan City
toward Pontiac
     Blue Water does not stop here
     Capitol Limited does not stop here
     Lake Shore Limited does not stop here
     Pere Marquette does not stop here
Former services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Chicago
Terminus
Capitol Limited
1982–2001
2003-2005
South Bend
Valparaiso
(until 1990)
Three Rivers
1995–2005
Nappanee
toward New York
Lake Shore Limited
1982-2003
South Bend
Pennsylvanian
1998–2003
South Bend
toward New York
International
1982-2001
Niles
toward Toronto
Pere Marquette
1984-2001
New Buffalo
Broadway Limited
1982–1995
South Bend
toward New York
Valparaiso
(until 1990)
toward New York
Calumet
1982–1991
Whiting
toward Valparaiso
Cardinal
1982–1986
Gary (Miller & Lake)
toward New York

History

Opening

After the success of 1953-opened Route 128 station in the southern area of Greater Boston, railroads began to add suburban park-and-ride stops for intercity trains as complements to downtown stations. Penn Central opened Capital Beltway station in 1970 and Metropark station in 1971, providing suburban stops for Washington, D.C. and New York City. However, at the beginning of the 1980s, Chicago did not have such a stop for Amtrak intercity trains running to Michigan and the East Coast - most trains did not stop until Gary, South Bend, Valparaiso, or Niles. Only the Calumet and Indiana Connection commuter trains stopped in Whiting, Indiana, some 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Chicago.[1]:215

The westbound Wolverine at Hammond–Whiting in November 1984

Indiana Representative Adam Benjamin Jr., chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, induced Amtrak to add a suburban station southeast of Chicago. Located in Whiting (at a location that had not previously had a railroad station) but co-named for larger Hammond, Indiana, Hammond–Whiting station opened on September 12, 1982.[1]:257 It was initially served by ten daily round trips: the Calumet and Indiana Connection commuter trains; the International Limited, Lake Cities, Twilight Limited, and Wolverine services to Michigan; and the Broadway Limited, Capitol Limited, Cardinal, and Lake Shore Limited long-distance trains.

For the next two decades, the station was served by all Amtrak service on the line. The Pere Marquette began on August 5, 1984; the Cardinal was rerouted to the southwest on April 27, 1986.[1]:53, 209 The Indiana Connection was discontinued on January 10, 1986, followed by the Calumet on May 6, 1991.[1]:216217 The Broadway Limited was replaced by the Three Rivers on September 10, 1995.[1]:27 The Pennsylvanian was extended to Chicago with a stop at Hammond–Whiting on November 7, 1998.[1]:76

Service reductions

A Wolverine passing through the station in 2008

The station was built cheaply, using a standard Amtrak design.[3] The single side platform serves only one of the line's three tracks; this caused operational difficulties with routing numerous daily Amtrak trains onto that single track. Amtrak began reducing service to the station in the early 2000s because of low ridership and Norfolk Southern's requests due to the operational issues.[4][3] On October 29, 2000, the Wolverine stop at Hammond–Whiting was discontinued.[1]:203 The Pere Marquette and International ceased stopping on April 29, 2001, followed by the Capitol Limited on July 9.[1]:54, 210

The Pennsylvanian was cut back to Pittsburgh on February 10, 2003.[1]:78 The Lake Shore Limited stop was discontinued on April 28, 2003, as the train averaged just five passengers per train at Hammond–Whiting, but the Capitol Limited stop was re-added.[4] The Three Rivers was cut on March 7, 2005.[1]:33 The station lost its ticket agent on April 25, 2005, when the Capitol Limited again ceased to stop.[1]:257 This left only two daily Wolverine round trips (the former Lake Cities and Twilight Limited, renamed on April 26, 2004) as the only service at Hammond–Whiting.[1]:201, 257 In 2011, Amtrak considered stopping the Lake Shore Limited at the station; however, it was rejected due to operational difficulties and low projected ridership.[4]

See also

References

  1. Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3.
  2. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2017, State of Indiana" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  3. "Hammond-Whiting, IN (HMI)". Great American Stations. Amtrak.
  4. "PRIIA Section 210 Performance Improvement Plan: Crescent – Lake Shore Limited – Silver Service" (PDF). Amtrak. September 2011. p. 48.
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