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CHESTERTON — The South Shore Line will offer free westbound rides during non-peak hours next week as a way to introduce — or reintroduce — travelers to the commuter rail service.

Michael Noland, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District general manager , announced the Take Us for a Free Ride program Monday. It will offer free westbound rides all day on Sunday and during off-peak hours Monday through Friday next week.

“There are a lot of people out there who need to give the South Shore a try,” Noland said. “This is a way for us to get the word out.”

He said Sunday ridership in March tends to average 2,500 to 3,000, and weekday non-rush hour numbers are about the same.

The westbound half of those will be free, and Noland said NICTD officials hope they can increase total ridership to “five, six, 7,000 folks jumping on” during the promotion.

The free weekday rides will be on trains arriving in Chicago at 9:30 a.m. or later. “This is a time of day we’ve got a lot of capacity,” Noland said.

One-way fares from Indiana stations range from $6 at Hammond to $13 at South Bend.

Passengers will pay those regular fares on their eastbound rides back to Indiana.