SEPTA overnight weekend service so popular it's staying

SEPTA officials announced this morning that the response to a weekend overnight subway service pilot program on the Broad Street and Market-Frankford lines has been so successful they've decided to extend it indefinitely.

SEPTA launched the program June 15 to see if there was demand for late-night service on Saturdays and Sundays. Officials said 15,000 riders on average rode the trains each weekend from midnight to 5 a.m.

It's markedly more than the 9,000 travelers who, on average, previously boarded the weekend Broad Street and Market-Frankford Lines Nite Owl bus service.

For the new overnight rail service, the Market-Frankford Line has proved the most popular with 10,000 weekend riders. The 15th Street and 2nd Street stations were the biggest draw.

For the Broad Street line, it drew an average 5,000 riders. Walnut-Locust and Lombard-South Stations were among the most popular.

SEPTA said a bigger police presence has kept issues about safety to a minimum.