PATCO, which has an automated ticketing service at its stations, brought back flesh-and-blood cashiers to sell round-trip tickets to Philadelphia. He said many paradegoers were first-time or infrequent riders who didn't know how to use the system and slowed it down.

Kasuba said that for the last Phillies parade, in 1980, the PATCO line handled about 40,000 people - or more than twice its normal daily ridership of 19,000 people. This year, he predicted, that number would be "smashed."

He added that during the parade, NJ Transit buses were not able to maneuver the streets because of crowds. NJ Transit temporarily shut down bus operations. Things finally begin returning to normal on both PATCO and DRPA's four bridges about 6:15 p.m., Kasuba said.

All day, Suburban Station was a roiling current of fans in Phillies red moving in all directions. SEPTA employees in fluorescent green vests tried to keep things calm.

Taking a train from Norristown that morning was "perfect," said Greg Doney, clutching the hands of his young daughter and son after the parade. "Getting out of here is hell," he said.

At the day's start, riders who were catching trains at stations where lines originated had far better odds of getting to the city than those trying to hop on in the middle.

Maloney said that once a train was standing-room-only, its conductor would not stop.

That frustrated Derek Rapisarda, 26, to no end.

He arrived at the Haverford station around 9 a.m. - but didn't emerge from Suburban Station until 1 p.m. He said so many trains were blowing past Haverford that he decided to walk to the Bryn Mawr station.