For anyone planning on traveling into Center City to see Pope Francis this weekend but who has been procrastinating, there’s good news – there are still plenty of special weekend passes available no matter from where you’re coming.
Despite an initial clamor for tickets to use the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) regional rail lines, only 120,000 of the 328,000 special papal passes available have been sold, according to Andrew Busch, public information manager with SEPTA, meaning there are still plenty out there.
Regional Rail tickets are on sale through Friday at the 18 outlying stations that will be in service, as well as at Jefferson Station, Busch said. Three-day transit passes can be purchased at regular SEPTA sales locations as well as at select cashier’s booths along the Market-Frankford Line during specific hours that vary by location. For sales locations and hours, visit www.septa.org/papalvisitphilly.
No Regional Rail tickets will be for sale this weekend, Busch said, however tokens for the Market-Frankford and Broad Street subway lines will be available. Buses and trolleys will also continue to accept cash fares, he said.
“The pre-purchased pass sales numbers represent approximately three times the ridership of an average Saturday and about five times the normal Sunday ridership,” he said. “Our service plan was designed to accommodate these types of levels of increased demand, so we have plenty of room to carry these passengers.”
For example, there has been 12,797 passes sold for this weekend for Radnor station, representing nearly 14 times the normal weekday ridership, according to SEPTA, and 15,636 passes sold for Paoli, which is tops among the 18 stations on the regional rails, according to SEPTA.
With increased riders and limited special time slots, some may wonder if there will be enough trains to accommodate everyone and, according to Busch, there should be no problems moving everyone but people should expect to wait.
“We believe the service plan will allow enough time for everyone who needs to catch a train before and after to get their ride home. Customers will likely have waits for service, particularly on the trips home, so we ask for their patience as we work through that,” he said. “If some can plan to spend a couple hours in the city after the events, maybe grab a bite to eat and let the crowds thin out, that might make the wait a little easier.”
Riders need to be aware that Regional Rail inbound service to the city will run from the open outlying stations to Center City from 5:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, then resume at 5:30 p.m., for service back to the outlying stations, with the exception is the Airport Line, which will run half-hour service in both directions throughout the weekend, Busch said.
Normal regional rail service will resume totally at noon Monday when the Gallery Station reopens but until then people can use alternate stations to detrain.
For those visitors coming from New Jersey, riders on Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) will face a similar situation with one-way trains, special tickets and select open stations.
Of the 75,000 weekend Papal Passes available, approximately 17,000 have been sold so far but the passes will be for sale throughout the weekend for last minutes riders at the four open stations, – Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Ferry Avenue and Broadway – according to Kyle Anderson, with PATCO. The only open one in the city will be 9th/10th and Locust.
The passes are no longer available online, Anderson said, but can be purchased from 7 a.m.-7 p.m., at Broadway today and Friday, and from 4-7 p.m., Sept. 24, and again from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Sept. 25 at Woodcrest.
On Saturday and Sunday, PATCO will operate westbound trains to the city until 4:15 p.m., departing every 16 minutes, and eastbound beginning at 5:30 p.m. For those traveling during the Owl Service late night, trains will make all stops, Anderson said.
“The last westbound train to Philadelphia will depart Lindenwold at 2:15 a.m., and will make all stops. The next westbound train will be the departure from Lindenwold at 6 a.m.,” he said. “The last eastbound train to New Jersey will depart 15/16th and Locust at 3 a.m., and will make all stops. The next eastbound train will depart 9/10th and Locust at 5:30 p.m.”
From 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday service will be suspended. For those who commute on PATCO there will normal schedule will resume at 3:40 a.m., Monday.
For more information, visit ridepatco.org.
