I've been riding the Rock Island Metra for more than 20 years, from my first day of junior high to…read moremy job in management now. Over the years, the most noticeable changes for the line have been the loss of the food and beverage cars, the dramatic rise in fares, and the diversification of the train personnel. (In the '90s, it wasn't uncommon for a white trainman to call Black youth "monkeys" to their faces and threaten them with arrest for not showing their student IDs quickly enough.) Besides that, the trains and the experience of riding are largely the same as they were in 1996. Some conductors, trainmen and other employees are consistently friendly and talkative. Others take pleasure in terrorizing the passengers, including long-time riders like myself. Recently, I tried to board a weekend train with a bottle of peach Izze (a nonalcoholic beverage) in my bag. One of the many (African-American!) security men on the platform told me that I wouldn't be allowed to board the train with it, and added that I'd be the next victim of iPhone-worthy police brutality if I attempted to argue that it was acceptable to bring this unopened nonalcoholic beverage on the train, as I had for many years up until that point. I was then forced to catch the Red Line El to 95th Street, then transfer to a CTA bus to get home that night, as I had been trying to board the 8:10 PM Metra and the next Metra wasn't departing until 11:15 PM. I witnessed another trainman physically assault a passenger and then call the police on him for fighting back. (This incident resulted in the train being delayed between 111th and 115th St, and the arrest and incarceration of the passenger who had been assaulted by the trainman.) Another called the police on a young woman, age 20 or so, because he spotted marijuana in her backpack. This resulted in an unnecessarily long train delay while the young woman was being booked and arrested outside of the train. I'm sure she wasn't hurting anybody by having marijuana in her possession, but the trainman was hurting the passengers by making us wait to resume our journey until he finished getting the poor girl a criminal record. Substantial train delays, always with flimsy excuses ("due to boarding of a disabled passenger," which I'm sure must be embarrassing for the disabled passenger if s/he actually exists), are particularly frequent on the weekends. But sometimes, the weekend trains will arrive EARLY, which causes passengers like me to panic as we try to safely get to the one or two doors that are open. On one occasion not too long ago, I waited for an early train to arrive at the station before running around it to safely board. As I arrived at the ONE door that the train personnel had bothered to open for passenger boarding, the conductor waved it closed and took off without me - knowing that I'd likely have to wait two hours for the next Metra or be forced to catch the (unsafe on Chicago's far South Side) CTA bus and El trains. This incident and others like it understandably puts riders under pressure to rush to make the rare early train, or to choose between being stranded on the South Side until the next Metra comes hours later or enduring the anxiety of riding the CTA through neighborhoods noted for high crime rates. It's amazing that Metra can demand such a high level of patience from passengers who routinely pay over $140 per month for tickets, yet the train personnel don't even have the courtesy to wait for us to board the trains properly in inclement weather. Metra should be able to guarantee its monthly passholders respectful treatment by the train personnel. And if it wants to boost ridership, it should be able to guarantee that even for passengers who are riding the Metra for the first and only times in their lives. Most of the adults and children I've known to ride the Metra over the years eventually gave it up in favor of driving. They'd rather pay an arm and a leg to park downtown than risk poor service and abuse by Metra personnel.

The conductors are some miserable , rude people . Part of the training must be " be as rude to…read morepeople as you possibly can , especially people who don't ride the train usually and don't really know how things are done " .

I love(d) taking trains, but Amtrak (especially the Wolverine line) has been CONSISTENTLY chipping…read moreaway at that love of traveling via train. I am not making this bad review from frustration at a single or couple of experiences... it has been terrible and delayed for nearly all the rides I've taken in the last two years (and I take this train often). First, the WiFi rarely works even if it says it's connected and I go through the portal. Fine, so I try to use my cellular data, but due to the infrastructure in the areas we're passing, I'll lose cellular service all together. Next, there has been a string of excuses for severe schedule delays. One day it's because of bad radio signals, another day it's because another train has to pass so we need to wait over an hour before going to the next stop. Just absolutely terrible. Not only has the service become less reliable and decreasing quality, they're also increasing prices (especially during high travel periods like holidays). There needs to be some SERIOUS improvements to these issues. I hope it happens sooner rather than later because at this pace, I'll be exploring other travel options that can be more consistent, reliable, and not resort to price gouging customers for an inferior service.

If your going to Detroit this is your place! No attendent on duty but easy access.read more

A wonderful friend of mine lives in Oak Lawn, Illinois, so when my dad and I were going to a Notre…read moreDame football game a little while back, I asked whether she would mind dropping us off somewhere along the South Shore Line's route. When my dad and I got to Chicago, my friend said she had scoped out the closest station to where she lived and that it seemed sketchy. I told her I didn't mind, although my dad was a little concerned. Being the stubborn person that I am, I told him it would be fine. I was the one who had ridden the South Shore Line many times by myself, right? We'd only be at the station until the train came, right? Well, sort of. On the way to the station, my friend tried to persuade me to let her drop us off somewhere closer to downtown. "It's fine with me," she said, but I didn't want to put her out. So we found the station and waited in her car until the train was about five minutes away. My dad and I caught the train right off, and we got to South Bend easily. So what's my beef with this station? Well, we made a return trip too. Again, my friend told me she'd be happy picking up us at the Roosevelt Road or even the Randolph Street Stations (as the Museum Campus and Millennium, respectively, were then called). I told her it would be fine. When we arrived at the Kensington Station, my friend wasn't there yet. We didn't have a phone, and I couldn't find a payphone, so we had to sit on the platform and wait. It was dark, cold, and desolate. I had my dad sit tight with our bags while I looked in the other parking lot, but my friend was nowhere to be found. Sitting up there with my dad, I was imagining the worst. His natural nervousness was rubbing off on me. My friend eventually arrived, and everything turned out OK. But I wouldn't voluntarily use this station again. The neighborhood is scarily quiet, and the station entrance is downright terrifying at night.

This station really isn't that bad, I have been taking this line for years to downtown and back…read more Yes to the unfamiliar, it can be a little sketchy being in this neighborhood, but really we don't many problems around here. Maybe it's because I grew up here, and I've always felt safe here. And I always come home late too, usually around 1 on the last train in. But a lot of people commute to this neighborhood to use this station, so during rush hour, this area looks like something different , tons of people everywhere. Like I said, it may not look like a great place,(depending. Where u r looking off the tracks) but as a white person using this line and living in this neighborhood for years, I can assure you it's perfectly okay here, aside from some of the scum you see sitting around the station sometimes...I keep my knife..just in case...Haha..remember, if you look like you are scared, that's when u get screwed with. But this is the southside, what do u expect? ???

BLUE ISLAND LINE from 80th Ave/TINLEY PARK TO LA SALLE Station and back…read more Helpful staff. Clean train. Recommended.

My review for this Metra station has nothing to do with the commuter aspect of it but for the nerd…read morerail aspect of it. If your a train nerd and want to know about this station, it's a station on the edge of a rail yard that had three types of rail service. There is the diesel Metra trains, the all electric Metra trains and freight trains all running in the area. There is public access from all around the station and platforms with the all electrics stopping across the street in its own little station. You never know what to expect train wise but the Metra trains you can count on and hopefully some freight trains will show up. The Metra police are super gung ho and stopped me with my camera to ask what I was doing and warn you that when you step from pubic space into rail space that you will be arrested on the spot, easy there Barney fife I'm on the side walk and I have no plans to crawl on the tracks because that's stupid and very dangerous. Overall it's it's a busy rail area around the station with a nice amount happening in the station area with plenty of public access so you will not get in any trouble, Barney fife is sneaky because he pounces on you from the fringes pretty quick, I watched him do it to another person while I was there.

The few times I rode the red line over the last few years I haven't had any major problems. The…read morepeople do get rowdy & sometimes the station/train is dirty. It's also weird how they at times have a lot of TSA level fake security while a drug dealer is literally cattle calling that he is selling weed 20 feet away from them. Like why not just call the police & have them escorted off the premises? At times I've seen security act just as wild as the passengers. The station itself is nice. It looks like it was recently renovated. It's pretty much a bus depot with buses that go all over the southside coming here. As always KEEP YOUR HEAD ON A SWIVEL & CALL THE POLICE if you need help. There are a ton of shady characters. I've seen people before try to get a CTA employee to help them out with an issue & act surprised when the employee doesn't help them. Just like the "security theatre" that is TSA, CTA isn't law enforcement... they CAN'T enforce laws. They will only assist you by making a report & contacting the actual police.

Not in a very nice neighborhood. Fights happens all the time unexpectedly. Few robberies, phone…read moretheft happens alot, that includes gang shootings. Watch your back too especially getting on the Red Line or waiting for Pace Suburban Bus or CTA buses. This station smells like smoke, cheap beer. Don't risk on taking the elevator unless if you ever smelled a crackhead urine. I only go there if I gotta transfer different buses or going straight to Downtown Chicago on CTA Red Line. Don't trust anyone. Do not take the taxi. I had seen few fights there. I had gotten few starred. I had beggars asking me for money too. Just say no if any people asked you anything.

This is a good Metra Station. Although people have had had their cars broken into here…read moreunfortunately in the past .

This very convenient Red Line stop…read more There is a Jewel, Burlington Coat Factory, Harold's Chicken, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Food 4 Less, Dollar Tree, and Pier 1 west of this station. If you live in Evergreen Park, Hometown or Oak Lawn off 87th / Cicero, you can take CTA 87th bus. This bus will go through Evergreen Park. 87th Red Line is always open and Red Line runs 24 hours.

I use Uber a lot! But not always out of town over a long duration. However in Chicago I did use…read moreride share exclusively for a week. Note I also used Lyft and would compare prices. Not one or the other was always more reasonable. However once the price was $12 difference when heading to the airport. In my option ride share is the way to go if in the city of Chicago. There are too many issues with parking and the high price that makes it counterproductive to rent. The app functioned well, better in my opinion than Lyft. I utilized Uber around 10-12 times and found on average the rides arrived in under 10 minutes. Some were within a few, but others were longer. The drivers were almost all foreign, but spoke English. They were professional and mostly knew their way around. Few instances of problems that brings the review down a star and a half I would recommend Uber. 3.5 rounding up. Always tip your driver.

I tried to rent a car through uber, they do third-party reservations for car rental businesses…read more Paid in advance. When I went to pick up the vehicle, turns out the business doesnt rent to locals. So I could not rent the car. I asked them for my money back and they said I needed to go through the third party I used to make the reservation, which would be Uber. Uber is refusing to refund the money. They kept repeating that the rental company doesn't rent to locals. Ok, fine, I know that now. However, I DID NOT TAKE POSSESSION OF THE CAR OR USE IT. Therefore I am owed my money back for a car I did not pick up or use. There is nothing in the terms and services that stated the money is non refundable. It's a simple concept: I paid for a service that was not rendered therefore I get my money back. Uber did nothing but just tell me "their T&C says they do not rent to locals" and then tell me to have a nice day. I'm not trying to argue to use the car. I'm arguing that Uber doesn't get to keep my money for something that wasn't used. They've been ignoring me since their last "have a nice day" on the 18th. I've been sending emails almost every day since then and all of them have been ignored. They keep your money when they should refund it, and then they think ignoring you will make you drop it. Give me my money back.