Ticket Agent Dropped At 111th Street Metra Station

CHICAGO, IL – Metra will close its option for on-site ticket sales at the 111th Street/Morgan Park station due to declining sales, the rail company announced in a news release on Wednesday. Passengers who use the station will still have access to the facilities, however.

The 111th Street station on the Rock Island line will continue to have a ticket seller on staff until the end of the day on Sept. 8, but after that time the position will be "eliminated through attrition," according to Metra. Numbers show that only 1,237 tickets were sold at the station throughout the entire month of June.

"Ticket sales have declined at many Metra stations as passengers have switched to online and mobile purchasing," Metra wrote in a statement, which also announced the closing of the on-site ticket sales option at the Rock Island Line's Mokena stop.

Metra previously eliminated on-site ticket sales 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.

“More than a third of all Metra tickets are now being purchased through the Ventra App,” Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno said. “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.”

There will be no extra cost to purchase a one-way ticket on board from the conductor after Sept. 8.

Patch file photo / Tim Moran