PATCO to start selling papal passes on Monday

On Monday, PATCO will start selling one-day and two-day rail passes for the Sept. 26 and 27 visit to Philadelphia by Pope Francis, PATCO officials said Wednesday.

A one-day pass will cost $5; a two-day pass, $10.

PATCO will sell 100,000 preloaded papal-visit Freedom cards, offering them both online (www.ridepatco.org/PapalVisit/) and at PATCO's Broadway station ticket office in Camden (from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday-Friday) and Woodcrest station in Cherry Hill (from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays).

There will be a limit of 10 cards per purchase at the ticket offices and online.

Cards purchased online will be mailed, with a $1.95 service fee per order to cover shipping.

The deadline for purchases is Sept. 1.

Passengers may also use their regular Freedom cards on those two days and pay a flat fee of $2.50 for each ride.

However, PATCO will not accept magnetic-strip paper tickets. Passengers without valid Freedom cards will not be permitted on PATCO trains.

Trains will operate every 16 minutes the from Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Ferry Avenue, and Broadway stations en route to the 9th/10th and Locust station in Center City, PATCO general manager John Rink said Wednesday.