Portage/Ogden Dunes station

Portage/Ogden Dunes
General information
Location	U.S. Highway 12 and Hillcrest Road Ogden Dunes, Indiana
Coordinates	41°37′2″N 87°11′12″W
Owned by	NICTD
Platforms	2 side platforms (one low-level, one high-level)
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	6
History
Opened	1998
Rebuilt	2021-2024
Electrified	Yes (1500 V DC)
Passengers
2019	237 (average weekday)
Services
Preceding station NICTD Following station Miller toward Millennium Station South Shore Line Dune Park toward South Bend Airport
Track layout west to Millennium Hillcrest Rd. US 12 (Dunes Hwy.) east to South Bend Airport
Location

Portage/Ogden Dunes is a station in Porter County, Indiana serving the municipalities of Portage, Indiana and Ogden Dunes, Indiana. It is used by South Shore Line trains. Ogden Dunes is a semi-gated community with one major access road off of U.S. Highway 12, and the station is located adjacent to where this road accesses the community. The station also serves a Marina Shores subdivision in Portage. Portage/Ogden Dunes station is close to the Inland Marsh and West Beach units of the Indiana Dunes National Park.

Station layout

The station has a northern low-level platform and a southern high-level platform with most trains in both directions boarding on the high-level platform. Three small passenger shelters are positioned at the beginning, middle and end of the low-level platform. The low-level platform is accessible thanks to a ramp structure located at the west end of the platform, designed to sync up to the first car of the train.

History

Portage/Ogden Dunes is a comparatively new station, built in 1998–1999 to replace the Ogden Dunes flag stop located about a hundred feet west. The flag stop had a platform and single row or parking accessed immediately off of Dunes Highway to the south of the single-track railway. The new station removed this southern platform and parking area, and instead constructed a new platform and double-row of angled parking north of the single-track. The project also included construction a new track to the north of the existing single-track east and west of the station, but within the station area a new track was built to the south of the existing single-track. This new southern track was then connected at either end of the station with the old single-track to become Track 1, and the new northern track outside the station area was connected to the old single-track within the station area to become Track 2.

Renovation

As part of a larger project to double-track the South Shore Line, Portage/Ogden Dunes saw a renovation from 2021 to 2024. Since the station was already double-tracked, it did not see a new track. However, a new high-level platform was built adjacent to the southern (eastbound) track, with a gauntlet track to allow freight trains to pass. The existing platform adjacent to the northern (westbound) track remained unchanged and was already accessible to passengers with disabilities due to having a ramp structure. The renovation also added a new parking lot with 354 spaces across Dunes Highway to the south of the station and a signalized pedestrian crossing of the Dune Highway to connect the station to this lot.

External links

• Media related to Portage/Ogden Dunes station at Wikimedia Commons
• South Shore Line - Stations
• Article aboard station, with photos of its construction
• Station from Google Maps Street View