Due to declining on-site ticket sales at the Evanston Central Street Station on the Union Pacific North Line, Union Pacific Railroad will close the station’s ticket office at the end of business on Thursday, Oct. 31.
Ticket sales have declined at many Metra stations as passengers have switched to mobile purchasing. About 47 percent of Metra customers now purchase tickets via the Ventra App. Although the ticket office is closing, passengers will continue to have access to the station facilities.
The Evanston Central Street Station sold an average of 940 tickets per month this year. The station sells the fewest tickets of all of UP’s ticket agent-staffed locations. The station serves about 1,300 customers each weekday.
After Oct. 31, customers boarding at Evanston Central Street can use cash to purchase a One-Way Ticket on board from a conductor at no extra cost. Tickets can always be purchased at any time at no extra cost through the free Ventra App, available in the App Store or Google Play. In addition, tickets will continue to be sold by agents at the nearby Evanston Davis Street Station and all five downtown stations, including Ogilvie Transportation Center. There are also ticket vending machines available at all five downtown Chicago Metra stations.
On-site ticket sales were previously eliminated at the Clarendon Hills, Riverside, Brookfield and Stone Avenue stations on the BNSF Line; the Mokena, 111th Street/Morgan Park, 91st, 95th, 99th Street, and 103rd Street/Beverly Hills stations on the Rock Island Line; the Bensenville and Franklin Park stations on the Milwaukee District West Line; the 57th Street Station on the Metra Electric Line; the Winnetka, Glencoe, 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.