Friday will be last call aboard what Metra officially calls its "refreshment cars." The rail line has decided to shut down its rolling taverns, ending an era that hearkens back to the days when executives in gray flannel suits climbed aboard club cars and lubricated the journey home with martinis. There are 10 trains with bar cars running on Metra's Rock Island and Milwaukee District West and North lines. There were more refreshment cars years ago, but Metra has been phasing them out as contracts with vendors expired. The last contract runs out this week.

Until now, Chicago and New York were believed to be the only cities where riders could still buy a drink aboard a commuter train, the American Public Transportation Association said. But transit agencies are concerned about what happens after passengers who have had a few drinks hop into their cars, said Mantill Williams, an association spokesman.

Last year, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority considered banning the sale of alcohol on the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North commuter trains, but dropped the plan.

But Metra said concern about alcohol isn't the issue. Rather, the bar cars aren't worth the revenue they produce—just less than $100,000 a year. With growing ridership, the agency is trying to maximize its space and equipment, spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said. "We know at times the bar cars can be very crowded. If we eliminate them, we can allow people to get through [to less crowded cars] more easily. Some people avoid going into the bar car," she said.

The bar cars aren't for those who want a quiet ride home with a book or a laptop. A party atmosphere often prevails. The regulars on the bar cars laugh heartily as the jokes fly. Riders carry on conversations across the seats and aisle. For a long time, a running poker game was conducted on a makeshift card table spread across the baggage rack.

"I come to the bar car so I can be loud, obnoxious and have a good time at the end of the workday," said Chris Laracuenta, 39, of South Elgin.  "These people just want to be around people who are lively and not reliving the workday or dreading going home or whatever it is," he said. "Some people go to happy hour. We go to the bar car."


In fact, during a recent ride on a bar car, socializing was more evident than drinking.  Many have been enjoying the bar car for decades. Passengers have gotten to know each other so well they invite the others to holiday parties in their homes. Train crew members are invited too. "We go to weddings, retirements," said Michelle Handrigan, 39, of Elgin. "We're like family. If somebody is gone for awhile you worry about them. We have each others' phone numbers."

Except for maybe the decibel level, Metra's bar cars aren't much different from normal commuter cars. The bar is nothing more than a serving counter on one side of the vestibule. Patrons can either stand there or go back to their seats, drinks in hand. Bartender Steve Franck serves up beer ($2.75), wine ($4.25), small bottles of mixed drinks ($5.25) and snacks while working his way home from his regular job downtown. Passengers enter at either end of the car, rather than through the vestibule doors, which don't open.

Metra says the configuration of counters and coolers in the vestibules inhibits the exit doors, and new federal regulations require these doors to be operational at all times for safety reasons.

But Metra's decision won't mean the end of the line for commuters who like to imbibe on their way home—not by a long shot. Passengers still will be allowed to bring alcoholic beverages onboard, except on certain blackout dates such as St. Patrick's Day and New Year's Eve, when many riders often are inebriated before climbing aboard.

Disappointed passengers have begun a last-ditch e-mail campaign to Metra, said Linda Glienke of Streamwood, who rides the bar car on the 4:50 p.m. Milwaukee West train. "We're all upset. It's like cutting off a limb," said Glienke, who worries that a social network is being threatened. Riders on her train organize a Cubs outing that attracts 90 people.

The decision to close the bar car is going to hurt Metra, one patron said.  "Everyone comes in here," he said. "The car jams up all the time. That's very dumb. They're hurting themselves."