South Shore line operator says lease not option

CHESTERTON, Ind. -- A lease or sale of northern Indiana's South Shore commuter line is unlikely because of federal restrictions and financial losses, say officials who oversee the railroad.\nThe review was done after a railroad manager said the state transportation commissioner asked him to consider future options for the service -- even though Gov. Mitch Daniels denies having any interest in leasing the South Bend-to-Chicago line to a private operator.\nDuring a meeting Friday of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District's board, chairman David Niezgodski said a lease or sale was not a viable option.\n"We didn't think it was a big deal, except it was denied," Niezgodski said. "I don't think any one of us here have understood why there has been such a denial of that statement."\nThe governor's office said Daniels had "zero interest" in leasing off the South Shore line after The Times of Munster, Ind., reported Oct. 4 that railroad general manager Gerald Hanas said he had been urged by state transportation Commissioner Tom Sharp to consider leasing options.\nHanas told the district board that Sharp had discussed the administration's success with leasing of the Indiana Toll Road and that the South Shore should consider possible public-private partnerships.\n"It certainly wasn't a comment that was a mandate; it was merely a suggestion," Hanas said. "I never recall him using the word privatization per se."\nThe commuter district, which owns and operates the South Shore, does not break even on ticket sales and receives about a third of its $30 million annual operating budget from state funding.