This is one of the nicest train stations if you are making your way to the city using the Metra…read more There's tons of parking that's easy to navigate in and out of (about $2 for the entire day - you can pay for it at a self serve kiosk at the station, so remember your parking spot number), a large indoor seating area for waiting that includes bathrooms, a coffee/bakery shop, and even a small library book shelf. The signs for the trains arrival times are clearly posted. Also it's so close to the Glen area, so if you have some extra time before the train arrives you can easily walk over there and grab other food options.

Parked here and took Metra to Chicago. I like that they have plenty of parking spaces that area…read moreclearly marked, it's only $2 for parking all day and paying for the parking was simple and easy. Definitely recommend this place over over Glenview for sure. Yeah, the names can be confusing so pay attention when you come back up otherwise you'll get off the wrong station.

Nice and safe and easy parking and station next to many stores so it's a very walkable town. Inside…read morethe train it's two levels and even charge stations

This is a great station to take the train to or from. It has clear signage, lots of parking, and an…read moreindoor waiting area. It gets very busy for the AM and PM commute!

It's fine; it's a train station. There's a coffee shop inside, Brew Coffee Lab, which is fantastic…read more(try the croffle). The interior is not a bad size so that's nice for when it's cold outside (or super hot, I suppose). There's also a bathroom so that's a great plus. They have anti-homeless seating in here--the benches have little metal dividers along them so that you can't lie down on the benches. I didn't know that Des Plaines was a hotbed for homelessness, but also am disgusted by any operation that uses anti-homeless architecture. I don't know if it's Metra or Des Plaines that's responsible for it but just not a good look.

I love the Metra, I really do. I ride the Metra every day from the city to Des Plaines. It's not…read morelike riding the "L" or a CTA bus; it's clean, doesn't smell like puke and there are fewer creepy passengers. You almost always get a seat, and the cars are properly heated in the winter and cooled in the summer. I highly recommend riding Metra if you can. Anyway, onto the Des Plaines Metra Station itself. This station is also a Pace bus depot, so it's convenient if you use both forms of transit. I've been to a couple Metra stations, and this one is pretty nice by comparison. It's a decent size with about four large benches inside for seating. There's also a convenience stand that sells coffee, drinks and snacks, and there are two restrooms. There is an attendant on duty to sell Metra tickets, but she is a little hit or miss. Sometimes she's really nice and friendly, and other times she's cranky and seems annoyed when you want to buy a ticket. It also seems like she takes a lot of breaks. She'll put up the "back in 10 minutes" sign and not be back in 10 minutes. Metra has finally started excepting credit cards at some of its stations, but not yet in Des Plaines, which is super annoying. You either have to pay in cash or write a check. Considering the moody ticket attendant and Metra's inability to adapt to technology, I highly recommend ordering your tickets online. Overall, I think riding Metra is a great value. The Des Plaines Metra station is clean and has a nice waiting area and snack stand inside.

Convenient and walkable, which is very key. With American Landmark purchasing the Technology Park…read moreand with all of the new businesses and people moving to this area, the Yellow-line Oakton stop is an essential way of getting to downtown or Evanston. I've taken the Yellowline mainly to get to the loop or Lincolnpark or to see the Cubs and wow, it's sooo easy. The booth always has a CTA employee in it, which adds to the safety. The Yellowline trains are also generally more on the clean side, which is a plus. Oh, there's a bunch of bike stands if you'd like to ride over and lock your bike. Which leads to the one point deduction. For some reason, there are a bunch of plastic and glass bottles that are laying around, beyond the tracks. This isn't Howard station and the CTA has to make a conscious effort to clean up this mess, because the litterbugs won't be going away, unfortunately - even with waste baskets just a few steps away. There isn't any parking here so be careful not to drop off at Crafty Beaver, you may end up getting a ticket like my neighbor. If need to park, you should park at Dempster Yellowline. All in all, consistent, clean, safe and just one stop away from Howard.

I have always passed by Oakton-Skokie, whether it be in my vehicle or enroute to Dempster-Skokie…read morevia Yellow line: Skokie Swift, but never utilized it despite it having access to places I visit in on a weekly basis. Occasionally I work in the area, and in the past I noted Oakton-Skokie as being the closest public transportation access spot to my job which is why I utilized it. I have to say that I love how well-maintained and easily accessible the stops are in Skokie in comparison to Chicago and Evanston. With that being said, some of the pros & cons I noted of Oakton-Skokie are. Pros: -It connects college students to Oakton Community College, which is only half of a mile away. -Easy accessible grocery stores (Market Place on Oakton & ALDI) that are coincidentally next to each other. -Diverse selection of restaurants within Downtown Skokie. Some noted are Libertad, Village Inn Pizzeria Sports Bar and Grill, Sugo Italian Street Food and De-Jred Fine Jamaican Cuisine. -It connects residents and those living outside of Skokie to events, and businesses in downtown Skokie, such as Skokie Theater; The Historical Society/Heritage Museum; the Public Library; St Peter's Catholic Church and Village Hall. -Wheel chair accessible ramp. -The yellow line - Skokie Swift, operates for weekday and weekend Chicago Cubs night games and Wrigley Field concerts going in-bound to until 12:00 AM on game nights. Cons: -The yellow line - Skokie Swift, does not run all night. Other than for Chicago Cubs night games and Wrigley Field concerts, it runs from Dempster to Howard until 11:15 PM, all week. And from Howard to Dempster until 11:00 PM. Thomas G

I take the metra almost everyday and this is One of the nicer and cozy stations along the metra -…read morebathroom, bike locks, benches, bookshelf, trashcans - it has it all :) and it is street level so no need to go up or down stairs.

The Glencoe train station is a cute little place to wait for the train. A classic red phone booth,…read morea big iron clad bicycle dedication and a few benches to wait for your train. Check the train schedule to make sure you are there at the correct time as there are express trains and local ones as well. The train itself is double decker and that can be fun for a kids. Make sure to get your fare before hand or you will pay a surcharge of $5. Definitely an efficient and effective way to avoid traveling into the city and it is easy and relaxing!

I stumbled on the yelp reviews and realized they haven't been updated in years…read more It's an all new station. Heated well in winter and cooled in summer. Electric is available for charging and it's always spotless and clean smelling. I think it's cleaned almost daily. One of the best Metra stops now.

Within walking distance of my house, so 4/5 stars…read more Could be a smidge cleaner, but it a heavily trafficked Metra station.

Gotta say that this station has gotten worse recently. The smell in here is unpleasant to say the…read moreleast, and on my last stop in here I noticed they covered all the outlets with plates so you can't charge your phone! Unacceptable. Is this a pathetic attempt to save money? Is it an attempt to cut back on vagrants without manning the station? Whatever it is I was pretty angry to see it. This used to be one of the better stations but they seem determined to ruin it.

This is a review for the Lake Cook train station on the Metra Milwaukee District North line. (at…read morethe time I'm writing this review, the map shows it in the wrong location - the station is just west of Waukegan Rd.) The station itself is fine - clean enough, bathrooms, seating and, as a bonus, Jimmy John's and a coffee shop are attached. The coffee shop is especially convenient for commuters. The problem with this station is the parking situation. Note that this is a Metra-owned lot, not municipal owned like many other stations. There are enough spaces. That's about where the good news ends. The layout of the parking lot is terrible with multiple bottlenecks when commuters are trying to leave. Getting all the way out can take 10 minutes, given that there is one parking lot exit onto Lake Cook Rd. for the station that is shared with Home Depot, a few restaurants and a small office building with a very short stoplight. At peak times, it's not unusual to wait 4 or 5 light cycles to get out. And there is no other way. Finally, the payment for parking here is also not great. The machines to do daily parking are confusing and often don't work. If you do monthly, you have to do it online (ok, that part's good, except that you have to do it each month - there's no option for a 3 or 6 month permit) but then you have to print out a piece of paper to display on your windshield. Not a fan. All of the other stations have either stickers or mirror tags. It's a pain in the butt to drive around all the time with a piece of paper on my dashboard and I am particularly opposed to the identifying information that it contains. I commute from this station because it's convenient, but Metra sure could improve the situation.

This is a nice station. It opened in the 1960s and has been well kept over that time; it's very…read moremuch a picturesque suburban train stop. The interior of the station is nice and comfortable with many wooden benches for folks to wait when it's cold outside, which of course is quite often in this climate. Although there was once an agent at this location, I'm pretty positive they have replaced that with a ticket vending machine. There are still bathrooms in use here, which is helpful. And parking is available in the lots on both the east and west sides of the tracks, and along Busse Highway as well. The Park Ridge station is in a great location right in the heart of Uptown Park Ridge. There are several restaurants, shops, the library, the farmer's market, and more that takes place steps away from the station. It's really handy if you come by for one of the events or to visit the Pickwick or something.

Poor Metra is plagued by the occasional careless person or car that gets in the way of the trains,…read morewhich basically cannot be stopped once in full blast. Metra is a good suburban train system, as they run fairly close to the official schedules. I like to ride on the upper levels to get those elevated views.

Dee Road is a great station. It's relatively new, I think; a bit over a decade. The station is part…read moreof the UP-NW line, terminating in Harvard on the north end and at Ogilvie Transportation Center (aka Northwestern Station) in the city. Dee Road has a good amount of parking and when I used this station there was plenty of it at 7:30 a.m. Parking is only $2 per day, which I think is standard at Metra stations. I didn't realize that the parking spots are numbered because the spaces themselves are not; there are wires several feet above the parking spots with numbers assigned. You'll need that number to pay for parking at the meter, so don't make the mistake I did. You can also download a parking app to pay for your parking. Though there's a building here, there is no agent; it's a shelter only. But a nice shelter, and a large one, which is great to have in the inclement weather. You can purchase a ticket via the Ventra app or you can purchase one on the train itself, which you can only do with cash.

It's very easy to park here and not realize you need to pay! I received at $50 ticket…read more I am not a regular commuter, I just visit Chicago once in a while for fun. There was not a sign at the lot entrance or near where I parked stating that it was a paid lot. I parked on the north end of the lot and went up the stairs and didn't see any notification about paying for parking. Looking at Google Earth it appears that there is a small sign, but it wasn't in an area where I would have noticed it. Also, the information on the metra website does not indicate that it is a paid lot.