Proposed South Shore Line station in South Bend

There are active proposals to build a new station in South Bend, Indiana, for the South Shore Line commuter rail service to replace the existing South Bend Airport station. The existing South Bend Airport station, built in 1992 on the east side of the airport, is a terminus for the train service. The route that carries the South Shore Line to its current station is considered slow and circuitous. While a number of locations have been looked at, the primary contenders have been relocating the station to the west side of South Bend International Airport or building a station in Downtown South Bend. Construction of a station in Downtown South Bend was championed by Pete Buttigieg during his tenure as mayor of South Bend. In late 2022, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD), the operator of the South Shore Line, advanced plans to begin construction on a new station at the west side of the airport as early as late 2024, commissioning an engineering study to prepare for this. Even if it builds a new station on the west side of the airport, NICTD has not ruled out the possibility of also building a future connection to Downtown South Bend.

When it was first opened in 1992, the current station on the airport's east side was originally intended to be a temporary location for the city's station. In 2006, officials began advancing plans to move the station to the airport's west side. In 2017, these plans again began gathering support. However, soon after, proposals for alternate locations for a station began to arise. The South Bend Chocolate Company proposed locating the station near tourist attractions it was planning to construct. Then-mayor Pete Buttigieg (who had previously supported the plans to relocate the station to the west side of the airport) proposed instead locating the station in downtown South Bend. In 2018, a study was conducted analyzing possible sites for the station (the west side of the airport, downtown South Bend, a location on Honeywell Corporation-owned property, the South Bend Amtrak station, and the South Bend Chocolate Factory site). After the study, both Buttigieg and NICTD president Michael Noland both agreed that the only two sites worth further consideration for a new station were the west side of the airport and downtown South Bend. Later in 2018, the City of South Bend commissioned a further study of the feasibility for a downtown station. NICTD, by 2022, was progressing with plans for a new station on the west side of the airport. Public debate on whether this or a downtown station has persisted, however.