SEPTA papal transit passes on sale through Friday

The number of SEPTA papal transit passes sold for Regional Rail passengers is likely to be far fewer than the 328,000 available, but that doesn't mean suburban train stations won't be jammed Saturday and Sunday.

On average, the 18 Regional Rail stations that will operate this weekend will have about four times the typical number of weekday passengers on Saturday and Sunday, as the expected throng rides downtown in hopes of seeing Pope Francis.

"On Saturday and Sunday, on those two days, it's not going to be the usual station," SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams said.

SEPTA and local authorities are adding parking spots at certain rail stations, trying an airportlike passenger drop-off and beefing up security with a police presence.

Some stations, such as Croydon, on the Trenton line, will see about 2,000 people this weekend, an average of twice as many as a normal weekday. Other stations, though, will see much larger passenger loads.

More than 8,600 papal passes have been sold for the Pennbrook Station in Montgomery County, an average of 10 times more than the weekday ridership. The busiest route will be the Paoli/Thorndale Line, with stations operating in Radnor and Paoli. Of the 118,996 SEPTA papal passes sold as of Wednesday, almost a quarter of them will be used on that line.

The passenger volume could substantially increase. SEPTA will keep selling papal passes through Friday. The passes are for sale at Suburban Station, Jefferson Station, and most of the 18 Regional Rail stations that will be open this weekend. Online sales are finished.

With just two days to go before sales end, most of the 18 SEPTA Regional Rail stations had sold far less than half of the 20,000 passes allotted for most stations. Only three stations, Paoli, Radnor, and Fort Washington, in Montgomery County, have sold more than 50 percent of their passes. Marcus Hook, Eastwick, and Levittown each sold less than 15 percent of the allotted passes.

That follows the pattern of underwhelming demand seen by other transit agencies in the area. NJ Transit has sold 2,600 rail passes out of 28,000 available for the Atlantic City Railroad and the RiverLine in New Jersey. PATCO has sold 15,000 papal passes of 75,000 available. PATCO is selling general access passes, rather than passes by station like SEPTA. Four of its stations in New Jersey - Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Ferry Avenue, and Broadway - will operate this weekend.

SEPTA plans to run trains to Philadelphia from all 18 stations every half hour as of 5:30 a.m. Saturday until noon. The same process will begin again Sunday, with trains running exclusively out to the suburban stations beginning at 5:30 p.m. both days. No trains will run from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. both days.

Some visitors will find music playing at the stations, food and water vendors, and Pope Francis commemorative cards for passengers.

"We're going to try to make it a really great atmosphere," Williams said.

About 700 SEPTA employees, along with a large police contingent, will be deployed at the stations to assist passengers on trains, direct traffic, and provide security.

Many SEPTA stations will face far more users than there are parking spots. Each station is handling the parking pressure differently, with SEPTA coordinating with local officials and police to determine the best way to access stations.

Paoli Station will be able to make available only about 600 parking spots, said Tredyffrin Police Detective Sgt. Todd Bereda. The focus will be encouraging people to be dropped off, rather than park. To facilitate that, Paoli Plaza will have lanes assigned for through travel, drop-offs, and pedestrians.

"We're giving people the chance, kind of like the airport, where you can pull over to the right and it doesn't hold up the car behind you," Bereda said.

At Radnor Station, meanwhile, authorities secured up to 15,000 parking spots by making use of private lots in the area, said Chris Flanagan, a Radnor police lieutenant.

The Paoli/Thorndale line is one of SEPTA's busiest, but Williams said she thought the Amtrak stop at Paoli explains the much larger percentage of passes sold for that station.

"We think some people are coming from the west," she said. "We're not seeing the same numbers at Doylestown and Norristown, which are also pretty significant lines."

SEPTA is maintaining an interactive map on its website, www.septa.org/fares/papal-map.html, that will report information on how to access the station, including where parking will be available.

jlaughlin@phillynews.com

215-845-4587@jasmlaughlin