Metra closes another ticketing office due to declining on-site sales
Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
Metra celebrates completion of Rock Island shops expansion.
File photo: Metra
Metra, the commuter rail system serving the Chicago metropolitan area, is closing the ticket office at the Franklin Park Station due to declining on-site ticket sales the station along its Milwaukee District West Line.
The station’s ticket office will officially be closed at the end of business on April 15.
Metra officials state that ticket sales have declined at many of the railroad’s stations as passengers have switched to mobile purchasing.
“About 45 percent of Metra customers now purchase tickets via the Ventra App,” Metra said in a statement. “Although the ticket office is closing, passengers will continue to have access to the station facilities.”
The Franklin Park Station sold an average of 777 tickets per month in 2018. However, the station sold only 507 tickets in February of 2019 and sells the fewest tickets of all the ticket agent-staffed locations along Metra’s entire Metra. The station serves about 460 customers per weekday.
After April 15, customers boarding at the Franklin Park station will be able to use cash to purchase a One-Way Ticket on board from a conductor at no extra cost.
Passengers can also purchase tickets at any time for no extra cost through the free Ventra App. In addition, tickets will continue being sold by agents at the nearby Itasca Station and all five downtown stations, including Chicago Union Station.
On-site ticket sales have previously been eliminated at the Clarendon Hills, Riverside, Brookfield and Stone Avenue stations along the BNSF Line, for example, as well as several others on the Rock Island Line, the Milwaukee District West Line, the Metra Electric Line, the UP North Line, the UP Northwest Line and the UP West Line.
