Electric Line riders are still waiting on Metra to fulfill promise of onboard bathrooms

Judy Fisher, despite promises made to her in the past, still can’t count on a bathroom waiting for her when she steps on Metra’s Electric Line.

“Most people who take the Electric Line have learned to stop drinking liquids,” the Flossmoor woman and longtime Metra commuter said. “And if you’re pregnant, good luck.”

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

Five years ago, under heavy pressure from its customers, Metra agreed to make several upgrades to the Electric Line.

Stations were spruced up.

Gone was a dreaded turnstile system for collecting fares — a system that was found nowhere else on Metra.

But riders were flush with anticipation about the addition of the one feature that’s available on Metra’s 10 other lines to and from the suburbs: onboard lavatories.