Geneva train station (Bartlett, St. Charles: school, bus, bills)

[gardener34]

Does anyone have any experience using the Geneva, IL train station? What can I expect in regards to parking etc. It has been years since I have parked there and I know they did some remodeling around there.

I am looking at potentially commuting downtown daily. Any tips would be appreciated!

Anyone? Thanks!!

[oakparkdude]

There's a covered daily park garage ($1.50/day I think) right next to the station. There's a daily park surface lot ($1.25/day) but its down by the river so a short 5-10 minute walk. There's quarterly permit parking with about a 3+ year wait list. There are definitely always empty spots in the daily park surface lot. I think the garage tends to fill up.

[sgresident]

don't know where you are coming from, but there is a train station in la fox and elburn along the same train line. I hear that there is always plenty of parking in elburn.

[gardener34]

Thanks so much! I will have to drive down to the geneva station area and scope it out before I go downtown. I am from St. Charles east side, and it would be most convenient to go out of the Geneva station I think.

[genevagirl]

Hi oakparkdude,
I am considering commuting to chicago also but I have 3 young children and I'm worried about the long commute and possible train delays in an emergency. How was experience so far? I would like to know. Thanks!

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by genevagirl

Hi oakparkdude,
I am considering commuting to chicago also but I have 3 young children and I'm worried about the long commute and possible train delays in an emergency. How was experience so far? I would like to know. Thanks!

There are occasional delays due to freight train interference, but usually under 15 minutes. Every once in a while (maybe twice a year) there are long delays due to accidents, suicides, etc which can last 1 hour or more. Still, on the whole, much better and more reliable than driving.

[genevagirl]

Thanks a lot!

[labklvr13]

I just wanted to throw out a cautionary word regarding the parking in Geneva. I started searching for anything regarding parking there today and found this thread. I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

I got a ticket yesterday for not paying my $2 (did anyone see the movie Better Off Dead? - haha).

I DID pay, and in fact had someone who remembers me paying as well.

That does not matter to the town of Geneva. If the $ is not in the parking slot box when they get there, then you get a ticket. (It's $10 by the way).

I will not speculate as to how the money disappeared. I truly have no idea. But I KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt, that I paid it. Unfortunately, I have no proof, and apparently, even if I did have proof - it wouldn't matter to the town of Geneva anyway.

Many of you will remember that they used to have automated machines at the train station, but those were removed a few months ago due to complaints that they didn't work, they were slow, etc. So they put back the old system of the slot boxes where you push in your money into the spot with your # on it. Well, even with the old system where you got a receipt "proving" that you paid your $ - that would not matter to them if the machine told them that you hadn't paid. So, your proof wasn't even really proof.

So basically, they can write a ticket whenever they want and there's no way to dispute it. If there is, and I'm missing something - please let me know.

I am not, in any way, shape or form knocking the Geneva police department. But I am saying that it is unfair that I have no way to prove that I did pay the $. Many of you will think it's not a big deal - just pay the $10. But what if this happens to me 5x? Should I pay $50 for something I didn't do?

I think not. I am scouting out alternative train stations (will check their policies before switching - maybe it is the same everywhere) or possibly walking/getting dropped off. I am really miffed.

So just a friendly warning.

[chet everett]

Seriously. Go the meetings that they hold every two weeks. Tell the elected officials that you feel that they ought to get an attendant out there. They already use aides to check the meters, all you would need is to have them to be there for an hour or sound verify who has paid.

[LindaIL]

Originally Posted by labklvr13

I just wanted to throw out a cautionary word regarding the parking in Geneva. I started searching for anything regarding parking there today and found this thread. I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

I got a ticket yesterday for not paying my $2 (did anyone see the movie Better Off Dead? - haha).

I DID pay, and in fact had someone who remembers me paying as well.

That does not matter to the town of Geneva. If the $ is not in the parking slot box when they get there, then you get a ticket. (It's $10 by the way).

I will not speculate as to how the money disappeared. I truly have no idea. But I KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt, that I paid it. Unfortunately, I have no proof, and apparently, even if I did have proof - it wouldn't matter to the town of Geneva anyway.

Many of you will remember that they used to have automated machines at the train station, but those were removed a few months ago due to complaints that they didn't work, they were slow, etc. So they put back the old system of the slot boxes where you push in your money into the spot with your # on it. Well, even with the old system where you got a receipt "proving" that you paid your $ - that would not matter to them if the machine told them that you hadn't paid. So, your proof wasn't even really proof.

So basically, they can write a ticket whenever they want and there's no way to dispute it. If there is, and I'm missing something - please let me know.

I am not, in any way, shape or form knocking the Geneva police department. But I am saying that it is unfair that I have no way to prove that I did pay the $. Many of you will think it's not a big deal - just pay the $10. But what if this happens to me 5x? Should I pay $50 for something I didn't do?

I think not. I am scouting out alternative train stations (will check their policies before switching - maybe it is the same everywhere) or possibly walking/getting dropped off. I am really miffed.

So just a friendly warning.

Had this same thing happen to us in Bartlett years ago. We know for a fact that we put our money in the slot - but did not matter Bartlett said there was nothing in slot. Had to pay the $10 or $15 ticket (and this was probably 15 yrs. ago). We'd speculated that since there were kids waiting around there at a school bus stop that maybe the kids used tweezers or something to take out the dollar bills that are sticking out a bit. Maybe we didn't put the dollar bill totally in all the way and someone pulled it out.

Maybe something similar happens in Geneva since they don't have the automated machines anymore.