Great Lakes Metra station

Good evening everyone it's good to be back, well I have a question about the Great Lakes Metra Station why is there a ticket office and even a parking space for a ticket agent if no agent is assigned there as of yet? Thank you.

When the station was built it was done so to include space for the possibility of a ticket agent in the future. This is not uncommon. I'm sure it is easier to plan a new station with agent space instead of expanding an old depot to include one. New stations built at Oak Lawn and 143rd Street on SWS also have empty ticket agent space. With Metra looking into ways to change the ticketing practice... these spaces may never be filled.

They could be used for renting/leasing to commercial purposes as a revenue source, something NJT and MTA have been doing increasingly in recent years which often includes newstands, concessions or coffee shops.

More than likely, until a ticket agent moves in, it will be a very large broom closet. Most enclosed & heated Metra stations located in the suburbs are maintained by the municipality they are in, who are going to find it easier to keep a broom, mop bucket, etc in the unused agent's office so they don't have to unload all that stuff out of their pickup truck everytime the station needs to be cleaned. There are some stations around which are indeed heated "indoor" stations but have no broom closet or anything, and I've always thought those must be a pain to clean.

OK but why in the name of all thing holy is there a parking space with a sign that says, "UPRR/Metra agent parking only?" I have heard rumors that they only staff it during the summer festive season, if this is true then that would sound like a wasted space.

wilmette2008 wrote:OK but why in the name of all thing holy is there a parking space with a sign that says, "UPRR/Metra agent parking only?" I have heard rumors that they only staff it during the summer festive season, if this is true then that would sound like a wasted space.

Not necessarily. Other employees, like swing collectors, signal maintainers, and MOW personnel among others can park there too, on a "first-come first served" basis. I'm sure that the spot isn't exclusively reserved for a non-existing employee...

While on topic who usually locks and unlocks the waiting room at stations that have no ticket agent or ones were the waiting room is open long after the agent goes off duty.