Metra Cuts Agents From Kenilworth Station

KENILWORTH, IL — More than 300 people board the Union Pacific North Line at Kenilworth Station every weekday, but hardly any of them are buying tickets from a human agent.

In fact, only 817 tickets were purchased in the entire month of January, the lowest number of any UP North Line station staffed by an agent, according to Metra.

As a result, Metra announced Thursday it is eliminating more ticket agent positions at the end of the month, including Kenilworth's. Previously, Metra stopped staffing Hubbard Woods and Lake Bluff stations with agents.

As for ticket sales at the the other UP North stations, Winnetka averages about 1,000 tickets sold a month and Glencoe averages about 1,100, according to a Metra spokesperson.

The number of tickets bought by human agents has been rapidly declining as riders switch to mobile purchasing. Since its introduction at the end of 2015, the Ventra app has handled about a third of all ticket purchases, according to a Metra spokesperson.

“Evaluating the best use of our limited resources and redeploying the agents from these stations to locations where we need more manpower is simply a good business practice,” said Metra CEO Don Orseno.

The ticket agent positions will be eliminated through attrition, either through retirement or moving to a different job, a Metra spokesperson said.

After March 30, passengers who board at Kenilworth Station will still be able to use cash to buy one-way paper tickets from a conductor on the train at no extra cost.

Top photo: Kenilworth Metra Station, 2015, Adam Moss (CC)