Ticket Office To Close At Lake Forest Metra Station

LAKE FOREST, IL — The ticket office at the downtown Lake Forest train station will permanently close this month due to declining on-site sales, Metra officials announced.

The last day to buy tickets for the Union Pacific North Line station from a station agent will be July 26.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic decimated ridership, agents at the at 691 N. Western Ave. sold just 1,049 tickets a month, on average, in 2019.

That ranked Lake Forest at the bottom of the list of staffed ticket offices in terms of sales, according to Metra.

Prior to the emergence of COVID-19, Lake Forest Station served about 750 riders each weekday.

Ridership hit a low of 3 percent of normal ridership in April 2020, plateaued at about 10 percent for most of last year.

Those numbers started to rise earlier this year and last month hit 17 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to rail officials.

This week, Metra implemented a new pilot schedule on the Union Pacific North Line aimed at providing more off-peak options.

“We expect ridership to continue to increase as the summer progresses and will continue to monitor conditions and make schedule adjustments that are responsive to our customers’ needs," said Jim Derwinski, Metra's executive director and chief executive officer, announcing he new timetables.

Ticket officials have previously been shuttered at the Central Street, Glencoe, Kenilworth, Hubbard Woods, Lake Bluff and Winnetka stations along the UP North Line.

The ticket office at the Union Pacific West Line station in Villa Park is also due to close at the same time as Lake Forest's.

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