Due to declining on-site ticket sales at its Clarendon Hills Station on the BNSF Line, Metra today announced that BNSF Railway will no longer staff the station with a ticket agent as of the close of business on Monday, May 7.
Ticket sales have declined at many Metra stations as passengers have switched to mobile purchasing. Although the ticket office is closing, passengers will continue to have access to the station facilities. The ticket agent position is being eliminated through attrition.
In 2017, customers purchased an average of 1,455 tickets a month at the Clarendon Hills Station, the second lowest number of tickets sold at all 12 stations staffed by an agent on the BNSF Line, which runs between Chicago Union Station and Aurora.
The station serves about 800 customers on weekdays.
“More than 44 percent of all Metra tickets are now being purchased through the Ventra App,” said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “Evaluating the best use of our limited resources and eliminating positions where sales aren’t high enough to warrant staffing is simply good business practice.”
After May 7, customers boarding in Clarendon Hills will be able to use cash to purchase a One-Way Ticket on board from a conductor at no extra cost. In addition, customers can purchase tickets from an agent or vending machine at all five downtown stations or through the free Ventra App, available in the App Store and Google Play.
On-site ticket sales were previously eliminated at the Riverside, Brookfield and Stone Avenue stations on the BNSF Line; the Mokena, 111th St/Morgan Park, 91st, 95th and 99th Street stations on the Rock Island Line; the Bensenville Station on the Milwaukee District West Line; the 57th Street Station on the Metra Electric Line; the Hubbard Woods, Kenilworth and Lake Bluff stations on the UP North Line; the Harvard Station on the UP Northwest Line; and the Oak Park Station on the UP West Line. All of the ticket agent positions were eliminated through attrition.