Few people buy South Shore Line tickets from the railroad’s remaining two ticket windows, and none will by the end of this month.
The railroad announced Tuesday that its last two ticket offices, at Chicago’s Millennium Station and Michigan City’s Carroll Avenue station, will close permanently on April 26.
“After careful consideration and review of usage, the closures will allow the SSL to better allocate ticket agent resources,” the railroad said in a news release.
Only 4% of the South Shore Line’s ticket sales are at the ticket windows, the news release said.
The majority — 62% – are purchased through the railroad’s mobile app, and another 22% are bought at ticket vending machines at each station, the railroad said. The vending machines work with credit cards or cash.
Train riders also can buy tickets from conductors for an extra $1, but that policy might change in the future, South Shore Line President Michael Noland said.
Until recently, the railroad’s ticket vending machines only accepted credit cards. In 2018, when the railroad’s management proposed a $2 surcharge for buying tickets on the train, several members of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation Board, which oversees the railroad, objected. They said many riders don’t have credit cards and could only use cash to buy tickets.
Since then, the railroad has bought ticket vending machines that accept cash as well as credit cards.
“By offering that option, I think we took care of that problem,” Noland said.
And eventually, he added, the railroad management would like to eliminate the practice of conductors having to carry cash.
The South Shore Line has been encouraging riders for several years to buy their tickets through the railroad’s mobile phone app.
Closure of the ticket windows will mark another step in the South Shore Line’s transformation.
Another end-of-an-era moment happened on April 20, 2021, when the last “street-running” train ran down the middle of 11th Street in Michigan City, as the railroad began preparing for construction of the Double Track project between Michigan City and Gary.
The single set of tracks along 10th and 11th streets has been replaced by two sets of tracks, and the railroad’s right-of-way has been separated from the streets.
Two high-level station platforms have been built at 11th and Franklin streets, and a new station is being built there as part of a high-rise apartment building.
Train service along the Double Track route began earlier this month, and a ceremony marking the project’s completion is scheduled for May 13.
Street running in Michigan City was the last vestige of the interurban era in the early 20th century, when small trains linked many of Indiana’s cities and towns.
Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
