How to Get From South Jersey to Philly During Pope’s Visit

Transportation to and around Philadelphia during Pope Francis's much-anticipated visit for the World Meeting of Families in September has been a hot topic this summer in the Delaware Valley and here in South Jersey.

The pontiff is expected to draw crowds in excess of one million people to the city Saturday and Sunday, September 26-27.

Many consider this chance to see the popular Pope a once in a lifetime opportunity, and transportation over-flows, detours and snarled traffic are expected.

It would seem like a silly idea to try driving in to the city during this weekend and parking will be extremely expensive or simply unavailable.

As far as it sounds like, transportation to the event areas and within the city is going to be limited to the public transportation services the city offers. So you can pretty much forget traveling in to the city with your vehicle. Where those transit services drop you off may be up to miles away from the actual event site. So be prepared to walk!

So then, let's try public transportation.

SEPTA's attempt last Monday to sell regional rail passes for the weekend of the Pope's visit quickly ended with a computer crash.  the website received about 900,000 visits in the first 10 minutes — with about 1,700 transactions being attempted per minute.

But, SEPTA's Regional Rail system is probably not the best way for you to travel to travel from South Jersey.

Thanks to nj.com, here's an overview of important travel information for the Papal visit...

NJ Transit

- Regular weekend service on the Atlantic City Rail Line and River Line will not operate during the papal visit on Sept. 26 and 27.

- NJ Transit will offer special tickets that go one sale later this summer for the different service options that will be available. The tickets will have to be purchased before boarding.

PATCO

- During the papal visit, express trains will provide non-stop service between the Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Ferry Avenue, and Camden Broadway stations in New Jersey and the 9th/10th & Locust Streets station in Center City. There will be no service at any other station.

- Special fares will be in effect for Sept. 26 and 27. A day pass will be $5, and a two-day pass will be $10. Customers with Freedom cards will be able to pay $2.50 for a one-way single ride.

- Three of the New Jersey PATCO stations have parking — 3,300 spots at Lindenwold, 1,900 at Ferry Avenue and 2,700 at Woodcrest. However, officials warned that passengers should expect the parking spots to fill quickly.

Amtrak

- All Amtrak trains will require reservations the weekend of the papal visit.

- Passengers are encouraged to book their tickets as far in advance as possible.

- Based on those reservations, Amtrak will add coaches, and trains, if necessary.

Philadelphia International Airport

- The airport is expecting a significant increase in the number of national and international travelers arriving in the days and weeks leading up to the event. Airport officials are working with SEPTA to make sure that passengers and employees are able to travel to and from the airport.

SEPTA

-All services will operate on a normal weekday schedule for the World Meeting of Families from Sept. 22 to 25.

- For the papal visit, the number of stops on regional rail, subway, trolley and Norristown High Speed lines will go from the usual 282 stops to 31 stops.

- The 31 stops will be boarding locations only, and officials will announce the center city drop-off points at a later date.

- The Market-Frankford Line will operate pick-up only service westbound from Frankford Transportation Center and the Girard Avenue Station. Eastbound pick-up only service will operate from 69th Street Transportation Center and 52nd Street Station. After the event, trains will express back to the outlying stations.

-The Broad Street Line will operate northbound from AT&T Station only and southbound from Fern Rock Transportation Center and Cecil B. Moore Station.

-Trolley routes 15, 11, 13, 34 and 36 will operate normal service.

- There will be service from a limited number of stations on the Norristown High Speed Line and Route 101 Media and Route 102 Sharon Hill trolly lines.

-At least 26 buses in Center City and surrounding areas will be on detours due to street closures.

Here is another great source of travel and transit information for the papal visit to Philadelphia