SEPTA to begin all-night subway service this month

A SEPTA pilot program to restore all-night subway service on weekends begins later this month.

SEPTA said today that overnight trains will run on weekends on the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines when the agency's summer schedule goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on June 15.

Trains will operate on the subway lines Friday nights into Saturday and Saturday nights into Sunday through Labor Day. Nite Owl buses will continue to run overnight on weekdays.

Overnight trains will run every 20 minutes from midnight to 5 a.m.

SEPTA said cashiers will staff high-ridership stations, where passengers will pay normally at entrance gates.

At unstaffed stations, riders will pay train operators before boarding. Riders will need exact cash, a token or a pass, as the operators will not give out change. The operators will sell transfers, SEPTA said.

The agency plans to study ridership, costs and security to determine whether to continue the 24-hour service after the pilot ends. The Nite Owl buses replaced overnight trains in 1991 due to low ridership.

Schedules and other information are available on SEPTA's website.