Double Down: SEPTA to hold 2nd online papal pass lotto for NHSL and 101/102 trolleys

SEPTA is doubling down on 12. August 12th, to be exact: that’s when SEPTA will hold another online lottery for Papal visit passes.

SEPTA held a lottery on Monday for its regional rail passes following an aborted attempt to sell the tickets first-come, first-serve in an online sale.

The August 12th lottery is for a different set of passes: the three-day passes usable on the Norristown High Speed Line and the Route 101 Media and 102 Sharon Hill trolley lines. The passes will cost $10, and $5 for individuals with valid Pennsylvania disability transit ID cards or Medicare cards. The passes are valid for travel Saturday, Sept. 26th through Monday, Sept. 28th. No other fare instruments will be valid on the NHSL or Routes 101 and 102 that weekend.

The three transit lines all terminate at 69th Street Transportation Center, where riders will be able to transfer to the Market Frankford Line to 30th Street Station. From there, riders will need to walk. Bicycles will not be permitted on the trolleys during the weekend and only foldable strollers will be allowed.

Monday’s regional rail lottery was undersubscribed, with 38,000 entries that requested a total of 328,045 passes. SEPTA is making 350,000 regional rail passes available and will announce later plans for the remaining 22,000 passes.

Like the earlier lottery, Wednesday’s suburban transit lottery will open at 12:01 a.m. and close at 11:59 p.m. Entrants will need to pick travel time slots from the outlying station – either 6 -9 a.m. or 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. – and up to three preferred stations. The only NHSL and 101/102 stations open during the Papal visit are: Route 101’s Springfield Mall and Leamy Avenue stops; Route 102’s North Street and Clifton-Aldan stops, and; NHSL’s Gulph Mills and Villanova stations.

All other stations on these lines will be closed that weekend, and trains will only run into 69th Street in the morning, and out to the suburbs in the evening.

Winning entrants will be allowed to purchase up to 10 passes for used at a specific station. Lucky entrants will be informed by email on August 14th.  A link to the lottery entry form will be on SEPTA’s website

SEPTA will announce more information about its city transit operations – the MFL, Broad Street Line, the Route 11, 13, 34 and 36 trolleys and buses – after the lottery.