Due to declining on-site ticket sales at its Stone Avenue Station in LaGrange, Metra today announced that BNSF Railway will no longer staff the station with a ticket agent as of the close of business Aug. 4.
Ticket sales have declined at many Metra stations as passengers have switched to online and mobile purchasing. Although the ticket office is closing, passengers will continue to have access to the station facility at Stone Avenue, where more than 1,000 people board each weekday. The position is being eliminated through attrition.
In May, customers at the Stone Avenue Station purchased a total of 1,391 tickets for the entire month ̶ the second-lowest number of tickets sold at all 13 stations staffed by an agent on Metra’s BNSF Line to Aurora. The sales, which totaled slightly more than $57,318 in May, were among the lowest on the line.
“Technology is changing the way Metra customers are buying tickets,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “We continue to look for ways to be more efficient with our limited resources and eliminating ticket agent positions at locations where sales aren’t high enough to warrant staffing is simply a good business practice.”
After Aug. 4, customers 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, online at metrarail.com or through the free Ventra App, available in the App Store and Google Play.
On-site ticket sales were previously eliminated at the Riverside and Brookfield stations on the BNSF Line, the 91st, 95th and 99th Street stations on the Rock Island Line, the Bensenville Station on the Milwaukee 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.