Jacobs to design Indiana’s $933-million commuter rail project

West Lake Commuter Rail Corridor will enhance travel from Indiana communities to Chicago

Jacobs, American international technical professional services firm, will serve as the designer of record for the F.H. Paschen and Ragnar Benson Joint Venture responsible for the eight-mile West Lake Corridor extension of the South Shore commuter rail line between Hammond and Dyer, Indiana.

Delivered as a design-build project, the owner, The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, estimates the cost of the project to be $933 million and construction to finish in 2024. Revenue operations are anticipated to begin in 2025. 

The West-Lake Corridor project, reportedly the state’s largest public transit investment in Indiana’s history, will provide Lake County residents with faster and more reliable access to employment and entertainment in Chicago. Along with approximately eight new miles of track, the new corridor will include four new stations with parking lots, park-and-ride areas, and ADA parking and station access. The expected travel time from the new Munster/Dyer Main Street station to Chicago’s Millennium Station is 47 minutes with 12 trips to/from during weekday peak.

The Project extends south from Hammond, Indiana, to Dyer Indiana. The Project purpose is to increase transportation options for central and southern Lake County residents traveling to downtown Chicago and surrounding areas as well as to South Bend International Airport.

“Improving accessibility, creating jobs and generating economic, social and environmental benefits strongly aligns with Jacobs’ values,” said Jacobs People & Places Solutions Senior Vice President Gary Morris. “Connecting Lake County area residents to Chicago and Cook County, Illinois is a step toward how we’d like to reimagine mobility for tomorrow in the Midwest.”