I’ve lived in Chicago for a couple months now, and I have yet to ride the Metra. I’ve taken Amtrak back and forth between Bloomington, and ridden the el plenty of times, but I’ll be taking my first ride on the Metra on Sunday. I’m driving down to Joliet but I’m taking the train back. What should I expect? How far in advance do I need to be at the train station? Are there a limited number of tickets?
It’s locomotive-hauled heavy equipment, so the ride quality is more like Amtrak than the L. Seats are not as padded as Amtrak. Capacity is not a problem, especially on weekends. Get to the train station 5-10 minutes ahead so you can buy a ticket there and walk through the tunnel to the platform. Joliet’s the end of the line, so the train will be waiting for you.
There are two levels. The lower floor has a center aisle with bench seats on either side that can hold two people. The upper floor is split with two aisles on either side of the headroom for the first floor aisle, with single seats. I always preferred to sit on the upper portion if I could, even though it was harder to get up there and back, as there was a very tight staircase to get to each upper aisle. I can’t find an image that really makes it clear, but here is one of the lower floor.
There are no turnstyles. You buy a ticket from a machine, and at some point the conductor comes by and punches your ticket or verifies that your ticket has already been punched. If you don’t have a ticket, you have to buy one from the conductor. But if the train is crowded, the conductor may not be able to even get through the car and nobody gets their ticket punched.
The system works reasonably well because the vast majority of Metra riders are regular commuters and buy monthly passes.
A lot of the suburban stations aren’t actually open on weekends (or, for that matter, any time after the morning rush hour). That doesn’t mean that the train doesn’t stop there at the scheduled time; it just means that the ticket office isn’t open (and, in some cases, the indoor waiting room is closed, as well).
(I just read gaffa’s post…it’s been a couple of years since I’ve ridden Metra regularly, and it may be that they have the automated ticket machines available at the outlying stations now.)
If the station isn’t open, and you don’t already have a ticket, you just buy your ticket from the conductor after you board the train. If the station at which you boarded wasn’t open, you won’t have to pay a surcharge (OTOH, if you buy a ticket from the conductor, and you could have bought a ticket at the station before boarding, you will pay a surcharge).
Also, just from a terminology standpoint: it’s just “Metra”, not “the Metra”.
It can get crowded if you’re riding at peak times. I used to take it every morning to go to work and occasionally I had to stand.
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I ride the UP Northwest Line every day (except most weekends), and I’d have to say it’s not a bad ride, with a couple of exceptions:
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sometimes kids will go on field trips from school. This tends to crowd the trains quickly, and it can get noisy.
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If I’ve been working late and can’t get an express train home, what normally is a 50 minute ride can turn into an hour and a half. If it’s late enough you get obnoxious crazy drunk people who miss their stops and then get belligerent with the conductors.
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Don’t leave anything on the train. The lost and found lady downtown is an angry person and will mistreat your belongings.
Another plus, if you are so inclined: The CVS store near the Riverside entrance sells reasonably priced beer (and wine) that you can bring with you on the train (except for restricted times, e.g. during a music festival). If you miss CVS’s closing time, you can also buy it to go from the bar that’s near the train platforms. It’s about twice as expensive, but after a very long day it is sometimes worth it.
Also, Metra is currently testing “quiet cars” on one of their lines (can’t recall which). It’s a car where riders are expected to be quiet (no talking, loud cell phone conversations or music on portable devices). It’s worked in other cities, so maybe it will work here.
Every once in a while you will get stuck on a train for hours because of an accident or weather conditions. Make sure you have plenty of reading material, a fully charged device of your choosing, or an appetite for sleep. I’ve been stranded for up to 2.5-3 hours.
Since it’s Sunday, you can buy a weekend pass, which will almost certainly be cheaper than a one-way to Chicago. Double-check with the conductor/ticket agent to be sure - make sure to let the person know that you’re only taking the one ride so they don’t assume you’re returning. Correction - it’s only $6 for a one-way, so ignore that.
I’ve been riding Metra to and from work every day for over a decade. Very nice and comfortable.
Edit: Looks like you’ve got the Rock Island and Heritage lines running out of Joliet, but the Heritage Line doesn’t run on the weekend. The Rock Island appears to depart every even hour at the 24 minute mark, until 8:24 pm. Link to schedule.