The South Shore Line is an electrically powered

Railway electrification system

A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...

 interurban

Interurban

An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...

 commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 and the South Bend Regional Airport

South Bend Regional Airport

South Bend Regional Airport is a public airport located three miles northwest of the central business district of South Bend, a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. This airport is publicly owned by St. Joseph County Airport Authority...

 in South Bend, Indiana

South Bend, Indiana

The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...

. Freight service

Freight train

A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...

 is operated by the Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad

Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad

The Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad , known to many as the South Shore Line, is a Class III freight railroad operating between Chicago, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana...

.
The oldest predecessor of the line was the Chicago and Indiana Air Line Railway, chartered on December 2, 1901. Service began in September, 1903, between East Chicago, Indiana

East Chicago, Indiana

East Chicago is a city in Lake County, Indiana. The population was 29,698 at the 2010 census.-Geography:East Chicago is located at ....

 and Indiana Harbor (now a neighborhood of East Chicago, but once an independent municipality).