How do metra conductors know when a ticket agent is on duty?|187277

How do Metra conductors know when a Ticket agent is on duty at outlaying stations and who supervises the ticket agents at outlaying stations?

I would assume they don_t. Recently I took a train from the burbs to Union, and there was no agent on duty at the burb station for me to buy a ticket from. When the conductor came around, he said, _You_re supposed to buy your tickets at the station._ Then they try to charge you $2 extra for buying it from them. One time a conductor charged me $1 extra, and I wondered if he was just pocketing the extra dollar from people.

It is a mystery to me how Metra conductors keep it all straight. If there is a ticket agent available at the station you pay more if you get on without a ticket since it is a pain in the *** to have to sell you one on the train I guess. The ticket agents are there for certain regular hours and I guess all of the stations are the same.

By the time of day and the station you used.