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SEPTA is dropping in-person ticket sales at the windows in more Regional Rail stations

Fewer Regional Rail customers are buying their tickets in stations. Some stations only sell about 20 tickets per week in person.

Signage at the Queen Lane Station at Queen Lane and Wissahickon Avenue in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. This station on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill West Line, is one of 10 Regional Rail stations where ticket-sales windows will be closed.
Signage at the Queen Lane Station at Queen Lane and Wissahickon Avenue in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. This station on SEPTA's Chestnut Hill West Line, is one of 10 Regional Rail stations where ticket-sales windows will be closed.Read moreALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / Staff Photographer

With fewer passengers opting for the old-fashioned human touch, SEPTA will shutter the ticket-sales windows Friday at 10 more Regional Rail stations with low demand.

Regional Rail riders are increasingly using Key cards, which can hold cash value for pay-as-you-go travel and weekly or monthly passes, SEPTA reports. In addition, customers who board at unstaffed stations have the option of buying Quick Trip tickets from conductors on board with cash, credit and debit cards, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

“They’re processing so few of these transactions anymore,” SEPTA spokesperson Kelly Greene said.

Some stations only sell about 20 tickets per week in person, she said.

Sales offices are closing at Elkins Park, Fort Washington, Hatboro, Langhorne, Lansdowne, Manayunk, Queen Lane, Secane, Swarthmore, and Wyndmoor.

Ticket offices are a vanishing breed on SEPTA’s commuter railroad. In February, the transportation authority eliminated in-person sales at 14 stations. After Friday, 46 station sales offices will remain open.

In the latest move, 10 employees of Eden, the contractor that runs the sales offices for SEPTA, will lose their jobs. Eden has offered them other jobs, Greene said.

SEPTA is encouraging regular train riders to buy a Key card and load it with cash value or passes. Customers who register their Key card within 30 days are refunded the $4.95 purchase price; registration also protects a customer’s balance if a card is lost or stolen.