Residents new to Northwest Indiana could soon get a free train ticket back to Illinois. It's part of the South Shore Line's latest marketing effort.
Nicole Barker with the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) says the railroad is looking to offer round-trip tickets to people who've recently moved into a new home. "Through our marketing firm, we've targeted specific areas where we know there's an uptick in new residents, and we are going to be marketing this to them as an option to encourage them to find something to do in the city or try it at their leisure," Barker told the NICTD Board on Monday.
It's one of a number of efforts the South Shore Line has been using to revive ridership after COVID-19. Over the holidays, the railroad encouraged people to give 25-ride tickets as stocking stuffers. And it's been offering a "buy one get one free" deal for monthly tickets.
Still, ridership remains down significantly from before the pandemic. Weekday rush hour trains saw a 64-percent drop in passengers from 2019 to 2022. Weekend trains fared better, dropping less than 44 percent.
