I love riding this! Its so nice and relaxing and very clean. This is because I rode the metra before and after the work hours. I avoided all the traffic and mess and it was nice. I wonder how it is when its packed, then yet again, I like it not hectic. read more

They're consistently inconsistent. Late more often than not. And lousy at communicating reasons for delays.

Real dickwad working tonight. Our stuff was soaking wet from walking in the rain, so we sat out of the way and put our stuff up on the seat across from us so it can dry a little before having to get off at our stop and walk home. He threw the seat back, tossing our stuff on the floor. I don't know what's up his ass. It's 1am and there isn't a crowding issue. Needs to get off his power trip. read more

I've taken the train from Geneva for years. For the longest time, the train was always on time. It arrived into Geneva on time and into Chicago within a few minutes of expected arrival. Now, it is hardly ever on time. Plan on it being 10-15 minutes late consistently. What has happened to Metra? read more

I highly suggest to avoid this train as much as possible. Sadly, they have a monopoly around chicagoland, basically. So they can charge whatever they want. Their prices are already overpriced and as of next month they're increasing their prices 30%. The employees are extremely rude whether they work on the train or selling tickets in the station. None of the bathrooms have working faucets. read more

This is the best way to get in and out of the city from the suburbs. The train is comfortable and goes pretty fast. There are bathrooms on board and the conductors are nice, it is just fun to ride the train in my opinion. read more

CONDUCTORS ARE THE BEST. service is pretty good and efficient. The Metra board, Mike Madigan are all thieves who steal are $ and raise are fare! DO NOT VOTE FOR ANOTHER MADIGAN IN ILLINOIS. read more

Almost always on time (unlike me). Clean. Relatively cheap (from here as opposed to the CTA, it's only 10 cents more but gets you downtown MUCH faster). Typical complaints I see come from people who don't pay attention and people who are complete morons. Lack of attention example from last week: Lady screaming at the conductor for charging her a $2.00 service fee which she had "never heard of." When asked why she didn't purchase a ticket at OGILVIE IN THE AFTERNOON, she explained that "there wasn't anyone from whom to buy a ticket." Moron example from last week: Girl on the train last week trying to use a USED one-way ticket and claiming that she thought it was a weekend pass. Also someone else on a later train trying to use a weekend pass on a MONDAY and getting angry that someone sold them a pass on Sunday night. There are SO MANY ways to get a good value. Obviously, 10-rides are a deal. More importantly, take advantage of STOPOVERS. I can't stress that enough. For instance, I live in Oak Park, have friends on the north side, and work on the North Shore. Coming home from work, I can ask the conductor to punch my 10-ride for a stopover in Rogers Park , hang out with my friends in the city, and then take the rest of the ride free. So many people don't even understand the I's and O's on the cards - that's what they're there for. Metra isn't perfect. In particular, I find that they cater to wealthy areas WAY too much. I guess financially this makes sense, but the Union Pacific North Line is a shining example with like 10 stops in the Evanston-Winnetka corridor. (When you can see the train picking up passengers at the previous station as you wait, that's ridiculous.) Those people generally all drive their Lexus SUVs to the train station anyway, so I think we could cut down each of those towns to 1 stop each and make the whole line about 15 mins faster. Come on, Metra! In addition to the preceding paragraph, I will also note that the bathrooms have been really crummy lately. Maybe it's the winter? Seems like they cut back on keeping those things maintained, but hey, even they're a luxury. Overall, I stand by my introductory comments. Metra is solid. read more

Metra sucks! People are packed in like stereotypical cattle/sardines. This creates a public hazard that goes unmonitored by anybody. The weekend schedules are a joke -trains only run every 2-3 hours. The toilets are a mess, and totally inadequate for the amount of people in the station everyday. Now they're cutting back on the puny train washrooms to make more space.Everything is aimed at cutting costs. For those who have a problem it's "tough luck-quit complaining" etcetra. Be thankful you have a train option, right? read more

Metra, Metra, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... 1) The deafeningly loud speaker announcements telling us about the 'quiet cars' 2) Airlines: always a 'weather delay'; Metra: always 'freight train interference' 3) Late Slips: ahhhh, just like grammar school 4) The 'time machine' experience: not a bit of technology that wasn't available 50 years ago (you just don't see people with coin changers that often anymore) 5) Higher fares, less service: The government-run formula for success 6) Raindrops keep fallin' on my head: Inside, on the platform 7) Surrealism on display - The scene: Three teller windows open, 65+ people in line, and some guy at the head of the line pointing out the next open window, like after 25 minutes of standing there you haven't figured out the system. The math: go open another window instead of just pointing out the obvious, and instantly achieve a 33% improvement in productivity! Only you, Metra, only you... Yes, I said love, but I have a confession: Metra, you have a rival for my affection. You see, there's this other monument to modernity and ruthless drive to excel: the Post Office. read more

Not sure where else to ask. I am traveling next week to Chicago wondering how safe the Metra line Between Downtown Chicago to Crystal Lake would be with children after Cubs game? read more

Metra is never on time due to switching delays and can take no accountability when it comes to those delays, their "apology" is an automated response on their PA systems. Thanks Metra great customer service! Also their policy on lost/stolen tickets on their trains is insulting and ridiculous. They are unable to make a single exception even if you have your receipt proving you paid for the ticket. Thank you for assuming that i will resell my ticket. The system that they have in place for wage works is outdated and they should realistically convert this over to their mobile app. But they are slow to do this because they know they generate more revenue for themselves if customers get their tickets stolen or lost. The metra is convenient and allows you to avoid traffic which is great but they know this. They know that customers do not have many options in terms of commuting which they take full advantage of with their terrible customer service. read more

We paid for an express ticket that was suppose to take us to our destination in less then 1 hour. Our train engine broke down so we spend 2 hours and 30 minute waiting with no compensation! What kind of shitty service is this? This is the reason why almost no one in the US uses trains as a form of transportation anymore. read more

I always use metra to get to the city (its just a pain driving my car) Its cheap, fast, usually on time and clean. If you are a lazy driver like me and want to just chill take the metra where ever you go, its definetly worth the penny read more

Rode the Metra for the very first time the morning of Saturday, 1/27/18 from Elburn to the Ogilvie station, and then back again early evening. Conductor and others on the train were very patient with me and gave me instructions of where to go when I got off, and told me what I needed to do to find the right train to come home. There are two large electronic boards inside the Ogilvie station that gives the name of rail lines and what tracks. Just make sure you know what train line you need. For example, the one I was on is called Union Pacific West Line. As far as the train itself, it was just fine for public transportation. I didn't have high expectations. It's not the Hyatt. On time in both directions. Numerous stops, and they are announced prior to arriving. On this day, I went by myself and felt totally safe going. Because it was dark coming back, I was a little more nervous, but probably didn't need to be. All went well. In regards to previous reviews from others, I would rather NOT sit in traffic. This is a very convenient way to travel to the city for someone who may travel alone, who may not like to drive in heavy traffic, who may get lost easily in traffic, no parking worries, and definitely no traffic congestion. Would definitely do again. For $8 round trip (although rates going up Feb 1) and no parking fee on the weekends, it is a bargain! read more

On March 17th we were returning from the Flower show via Metra Milwaukee West on the 2:20pm train to Schaumburg. The train was full, we ended up on the last car which was full of drunk teenagers. These kids were completely wasted and disrespectful. Screaming, swearing, blasting loud offensive music, drinking and then they thought it was ok to smoke weed on the train. 1 girl had her head in the garbage puking and later passed out in the bathroom. 1 young man was waiting for the bathroom and passed out hitting his head. We later saw him and found out he is allergic to a component of pot and was having a reaction. We reported all of this to the conductor multiple times and requested he contact Metra Police to call local authorities. The biggest concern was that these kids would then get in cars and drive. He never did anything about it. Terrible just terrible. read more

At minimum the train runs between 15-20 minutes behind schedule at least 2x a week or more, one time it was 40 minutes, it's the same excuse each time "mechanical issues" I'm not buying that, someone is either running late to work (conductor or crew) causing the train to have no choice but to wait for them. It is ridiculous how inconsistent the train is when you rely on it to take you downtown on TIME! I would like to know what is Metra doing to improve these constant service delay issues. read more

Metra service is very unreliable and extremely overpriced for the service they provide. More times than not my train is delayed and I fail to receive updates regarding the delay. Not sure why they continue to increase their fares read more

Today I rode Metra from Rt 59 station to Union Station. Normally, I am an express train commuter but I had a late start this morning and ended up riding the 9:28 train. I found a seat and put my backpack next to me and some women got on at Brookfield and asked me to remove my backpack so she could seat. I did promptly. Then she proceeded to swipe at the seat with her bag and I realized at that point she was swiping the at my coat that I was wearing because the sash was partly in her seat! (WTF) Basically, she treated my coat like trash. At this point, I quickly removed my coat and she promptly sat down with much gusto. I muttered, how rude. Then she screamed, " I have a RIGHT to a seat!" in a carriage with other riders. Then she proceeds to get on the phone and complain, "You know how you are only allowed to occupy one seat, this girl next to me wouldn't let me sit down. I think she was having a bad day and took it out on me! Yeah, I'm not gonna let me get to me, not gonna let it get to me" First of all, you asked for me to remove a backpack for you to sit while other seats were available, I did and you plopped your butt down. Second, you are the who treated my coat like trash. If you had the ability to ask me to remove my backpack then you could have said, please move your coat, I'd rather not sit on it. Thirdly, you screamed to an entire carriage that you had a "right" to a seat. Fourth, you proceeded to talk about the person who is sitting right next to you, less than 6 inches apart and then trash talk about that person on the phone. It begs the question, MANNERS!!! The ability to sit is not a right. It is a privilege. Second, if you treat someone's items like trash then you are going to be told that you are being rude. Third, do not scream in public. Most of us have left this primitive method of communication back in preschool. Fourth, you proceed to make all assumption on the phone about the state of another person's mind while if you have no idea of whether that is true or not WHILE the person is sitting right next to you!!! If you wanted to vent, you could've of just said, I'll tell you about it later. Conclusion: more crazy people are on the regular trains and I much prefer the commuter express train, at least on the quiet cars you can't talk thus you can't be insulted in this manner. Yes the metra trains are not the best at time keeping but at least they get me to and from Chicago without having to deal with traffic. read more

The Metra is awesome. Seeing the world from a train is always so much more different than from a car or on foot. Sometimes I take random Metra rides just to see all of the cool stops along the way in suburbs that I've never heard of. Two lines that are really great for a random trip are the BNSF to Aurora where the last stop is the historic Walter Payton's Roundhouse, and the Union Pacific North line that goes all the way up to Kenosha Wisconsin where you can see some really cool lighthouses on the nice lakefront and those cool electric streetcar things. If you're into photography, I'd also recommend getting on the train and taking a ride because it brings the whole world to you at a speed that your mind's eye can digest and all you have to do is get off the train at the next stop if you see something you want to capture. Alcohol may be consumed on the Metra trains so BYOB or wine or whatever and take a joy ride out somewhere for a round trip of about $11. It's really a great time, but maybe I'm just a square like that. I'm sure other people would give Metra one star or something because they have to take it to work as part of their daily grind, but you know it'll get lots of people to work/home and others to places they've never seen for cheap. read more

One of the best commuter railroads in the world! Tremendous value for price paid, safe equipment, courteous staff, many options on timetable, and easier than driving. Thank you! read more

The worst - hour and a half on train; waiting for rescue train; only for management to send wrong train.

After years of using the Metra system, I never had any issues, but a scheduling error on their website cause me to miss my long-distance train out of Chicago. Their response was very delayed and they said they would offer no reimbursement of any sort, despite the error being on their end. Will not be using their service again. read more

Zero stars from the Local riders of the BNSF Line. All of the other train lines have gotten things moving on these cold, COLD mornings, but the riders of the Local BNSF trains from Berwyn, Cicero, etc. are being left out in the cold every day. Somehow none of their supposed "switching problems" seem to affect the Express trains which fly past us one after another after another. This morning, they converted a Local to an Express from Hinsdale to Union Station, while we froze for close to an hour! We realize that they want to get the lawyers and bosses to work on time, but the secretaries and delivery people also need to get to our jobs. And we are the ones most likely to lose our jobs because of the poor train service we're receiving. To BNSF...SHAME ON YOU! read more

On Monday 6/1/15 I boarded the 6:58 am UPNW train in Cary to the Cumberland stop. I know that only the first 6 cars stop on the platform at Cumberland and I am always on the 1st car. This time the train overshot the platform by a couple of yards... Not the first time. I have exited the train dozens of times in the past at this same location without having to walk through the train to the next car. This time I was wearing my headphones and watched while the conductor appeared to struggle with the doors opening. When he appeared to finish and the doors were not open, I removed my headset and asked if we were going to exit here. He was little more than a foot away from my face when we aggressively and needlessly yelled that I would have to exit through the next car. He was clearly upset that I didn't hear his previous instructions. I made sure to thank him just as loud and exited the train. Many people listen to their headsets during their commute. When I noticed something out of the ordinary and removed my headset to ask a question I should not be yelled at like a child. I followed up with Metra customer service (Sean) with a formal complaint. The following day I made sure not to even make eye contact, no problems. The day after, I again made sure not to make eye contact and proceeded to exit the train. This time I heard him clearly comment to the other passengers "...yea! Notice how he does not wear his headphones anymore". I turned around and asked him why does he feel the need to say anything at all and that it's clear that he is talking to other passengers about me. I continued to ask him why he feels the need to continue this. He ignored me the entire time. As far as I am concerned this is harassment and I will not tolerate behavior like this. Considering my first complaint did not work, I intend on taking this to the next level to avoid being made to feel distress/embarrassed in the morning when all I what to do is get to work. If the train simply stopped when it was supposed to, I wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. read more

If there was a zero, I would rate it so. Long time nw up customer back to the smoke filled orange seat days. I wish those days would come back. Arrogant rude and Canadian (those of you in the know will get it) conductors and staff at ogilville are horrendous and unhelpfull unless they are shilling you out if a fiftten dollar sagging seat metal jabbing uncomfortable ride. Un helpful uncaring and obtuse. Dont lose your wallet on the train or a southside canadian will take the money and then lost and found will tell you come get it whenever then grind it up. Or just throw a lost bag in the garbage if its sunday. Worst people ever. Over priced asininely staffed, always late always overcrowded, over priced. Hope your train doesnt die on the tracks at barrington because of a suicide or power malfunction. Then try to get a refund. Metra and its over paid 1% corperate big wigs are slowly screwing themselves into the same corperate hole Illionois finds itself in. If you can commute another way DO IT. Outdated, unkempt, piss reeking and unairconditioned cars dont value at ten f***ing dollars a ride. F you metra. You are whats wrong with this country. Make america smell like piss again. Horrible excuse for human beings and a buisness read more

I take the train on occasion from Downtown Aurora to Union Station and back. Usually on time and pleasant. Great to explore Chicago without having to worry about parking. My only minor beef is that the folks behind the ticket counter in Aurora are occasionally rude, lack customer service skills, rarely smile. Seems like many of them would prefer to be doing anything other than their jobs and I wish that the railroad would grant them their wish! read more

Took the UP West round trip to Chicago from Elburn. Rudest conductors ever. On the way home my husband and I got separated as we were with 5 others taking different Uber's. My husband had my round trip ticket and they wouldn't let me on the train without it and made be by another one. The only reason I did was because I was worried that their Uber wouldn't get there on time. Well it did and when we tried to explain to the conductor what happened he basically called us liars. Then everybody else on our car said the same thing happened to them and he said it wasn't his fault- must have been the conductors from the next track over. Then he brought an armed security guard over while he argued with us longer. We do take the Metra back and forth often and I do have to say I've never seen a ruder group of people working for one company. I guess when you have a monopoly you don't have to be nice read more

Thank-you for another increase and yet board members figure a way to stick customers again.I will be interested on seeing who will be getting nice pay increases and save the Mumbo jumbo I know bs when I hear it time and time again read more

When I first started using it I really enjoyed it, but after a few times I am about done with it. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have it there for occasional use, but the price is almost not even worth it. Many times I can get to chicago faster and cheaper (especially if 2 or more people) if I just drive. Also, I have had many encounters with beligerante, drunk people or people who just have no awareness of others around them and play their music super loud, yell, etc. Those are the times I really regret taking the metra, and nothing is ever done about it. Nice at times, but I am to the point where I avoid it most of the time. read more

It's horrible. Some of the times when we're late, there is no announcement on the train. We should be reimbursed for an inconvenience. The cost is going up and the service is going down. Another thing, the tunnel we have to walk through to get to the train is horrible. It must be 100 years old. A real hell hole to walk through especially when it's raining out. It pours right through the ceiling. That should be fixed for the prices they charge per ticket. read more

Constantly late, it's Wednesday and I've been late all 3 work days... The conductors are incredibly rude.. Yet the prices have increased.

Things would be different if you we're not always late.... Or if your cars were clean.... Or if the tracks were as smooth as the UP line to Elburn.... Or if Union wasn't a disgrace.... I love the inknown too like a crane on the tracks, or 'signal problems' or tonight when there is a 2 hour delay as the train won against a person. Shuts down all 3 lines huh? BNSF employees walk tall, you graduated the 7th grade and don't have to take crap from anyone. Nice work to you all. read more

Conductor Pratt screamed at us, customers, for no reason. Everyone started at him. He charged us extra for no reason, and ran away when we asked him why. He yelled at us for using a fifty too. read more

rides are smooth, conductors are cool...most of them. there's a decent amount of people who can be too loud and obnoxious, ride it sometimes, so that can be annoying. quiet cars don't work either. drinking on the train can be nice unlike the cta. other than that, why the fuck did you have to raise your fares along with that other shit? can dads who have to travel all the way to the further suburbs and back to Chicago, to spend time with their kids, get a discount or what? thanks. read more

I was forced to ride the Metra again. Unbelievably enough, they've actually raised the prices!!!!! No one I know will ride the train because it costs twice as much as driving! No thanks! read more

I think it is HORRIBLE. This week alone were 2 mishaps. They are either fixing a track or the train is breaking down causing everyone to get off the train and take another train to get home. The service is going DOWN and the price of a ticket is going UP!! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. read more

Same as last week, except 20 min delay. Metra - the way to really fly NOT.

I have been taking the Metra for years as a convenient method of visiting family and friends outside of the city. To that end I have had plenty of time to witness Metra employees become increasingly crass and inappropriate, now reaching a breaking point in my tolerance spectrum. The last (5) times I have ridden the Metra I have encountered nasty attitudes, inappropriate conversation and idiotic rational from employees. Not to mention the stench of urine that CONSTANTLY hangs in the general populous' air supply. As if this weren't bad enough I suspect it's almost a guaranteed that some bacteria will cling to your nether regions if you so much as consider using the restroom facilities. As prices climb, service and consideration plummet. Get it together Metra. Your location and commuter demand should not give you the right to slack off or retain blatantly rude employees. From here on out I will start to document the names of said employees on Yelp, if for nothing else than to hold them accountable for their less-than-professional behavior. read more

I ride the train to go back home to the burbs and visit my parents. Occasionally the train is late both in the mornings and evenings - sometimes up to 20-30 minutes late. Evening train is ALWAYS overcrowded, I don't find a seat unless I make it 10 minutes before departure. Workers are very nice especially in the morning. For the most part, the train arrives when it says it will. Highly recommend taking an express train to wherever you're going, if not it may take you more than twice as long with all the stops in between. read more