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[CNJRoss]

Metra news release:

 

Ticket offices to close at Mokena and 111th St./Morgan Park on Sept. 8

 

 

(August 9, 2017) - Due to declining on-site ticket sales at its 111^th Street/Morgan Park and Mokena stations on the Rock Island Line, Metra today announced that it will no longer staff the stations with ticket agents as of the close of business Sept. 8.

 

Ticket sales have declined at many Metra stations as passengers have switched to online and mobile purchasing. Although the ticket offices are closing, passengers will continue to have access to station facilities. The positions are being eliminated through attrition.

 

In June, customers at the 111^th Street/Morgan Park Station purchased a total of 1,237 tickets for the entire month, the lowest number of tickets sold at all 14 stations staffed by an agent on the line, which runs between Joliet and LaSalle Street Station. Customers at the Mokena Station purchased 1,381 tickets, the second-lowest number of tickets sold on the line.

 

Each station serves about 600 customers on weekdays.

 

“More than a third of all Metra tickets are now being purchased through the Ventra App,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “As our customers switch to this new ticketing option, we are able to eliminate ticket agent positions through attrition and be more efficient with our limited resources.”

 

After Sept. 8, 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, Brookfield and Stone Avenue 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. All those positions were also eliminated through attrition.