Midwest Hub
South Bend, IN
Stop on the proposed 17,000-mile maglev network. Next stop: Fort Wayne, IN (70.8 mi).
About South Bend
South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St.
Source: Wikipedia summary (full article). Population and facts as published there.
Cost breakdown (proposal-scale estimates — see math)
⚠️ All figures below are parametric estimates scaled from the proposal's own budget ($8.5T ÷ 17,000 mi ≈ $500M per mile), not engineering quotes. Methodology is shown so you can check the math.
| Item | Basis | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal construction | Mid-size terminal (parametric range $1-2B) | $1.5B |
| Land acquisition | Regional factor 1× on $200M base | $200M |
| Track: South Bend → Fort Wayne | 70.8 mi × $500M/mi | $35.4B |
| Annual operations (share) | Staffing, power, maintenance | $30M/yr |
| Stop total (excl. annual ops) | $37.1B |
Best terminal location (proposed)
The downtown district around the Transpo and South Shore hub. South Bend's downtown transit hub already converges the South Shore Line to Chicago with Transpo buses, and the Studebaker corridor redevelopment is adding density. Notre Dame's national draw sits minutes away, giving the terminal a steady stream of students and visitors.
Before / after
Aerial mock-up (illustrative, not an engineering rendering). Left: the proposed site today. Right: with the maglev terminal.
🛤️ Infill stops toward Fort Wayne: the proposal envisions more stops than cities — smaller stations between majors. Plausible infills on this leg:
← All 287 stops
- Goshen, IN - Elkhart County city on the corridor
- Warsaw, IN - Kosciusko County city on the route
- Columbia City, IN - Whitley County seat east of Warsaw