Passengers feel the heat on South Shore Line

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The record breaking heat made the South Shore slow down. The train had to slow down from 85mph to just 35mph.

To make matters worse, during the trip back to South Bend, passengers in one car lost air conditioning and ran out of water, which put the restroom out of order.

Most everyone was a good sport about it because they were able to move to other cars that did have AC. Yet, for some, going so slowly on the last leg of a long trip home was agonizing.

"It started to get warmer and warmer and...they were starting to look a little sweaty," said passenger Paul Johnson. 

Johnson and his family were sitting in a train car on the South Shore Line when the AC. suddenly died and it felt like the temperature went up 15 degrees.

"Since we wanted to see the view out of the front of the train, we were stuck in a warm train," said Johnson. 

The other passengers in that car just couldn't take the heat, though. The rest of the riders smushed into the crowded rear cars that still had air. After that bump, another soon came. The train slowed down, creeping along at 35 miles an hour for the rest of the trip.

"They came on and apologized and let everyone know that there was severe heat".

When it gets too hot, the wires can fail. So, crews have to slow down so the wires do not overheat.

"You want it to stay safe, so you don't want them to go so fast that they have problems".

But Johnson rode it in stride, "It's a beautiful ride and even with all the problems they were just 10 minutes behind schedule. That's not very bad".

Officials with the South Shore Line said the train made a pit-stop in Michigan City, where the repairs facility is located. There was another slight delay then, as passengers heading to Chicago had to wait a few extra minutes while crews worked to fix the AC.

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