Frustrations ran high Wednesday morning as SEPTA sold out of Regional Rail passes at several stations for Thursday's Eagles victory parade.
Fans lined up as early as 3 a.m. Wednesday morning to pick up one of 50,000 special passes when they went on sale at 5 a.m.
As of 10:30 a.m., only 4,000 passes remained.
Limited tickets are still available at Cornwell Heights, Langhorne, Philmont, Chestnut Hill East and Fox Chase, Lansdale/Doylestown and Media. Click here for details.
In an effort to avoid pains felt during the 2008 Phillies parade, SEPTA is limiting its service Thursday to focus on getting passengers to and from the parade. Riders who typically use public transportation to get to work should make alternative plans.
Regional Rail will only run in-bound trains Thursday morning and will stop at a limited number of stations. In the afternoon, Regional Rail will only run out-bound.
Philadelphia riders can rejoice in free subway rides throughout the day. Meanwhile, PATCO is also offering special service for New Jersey passengers. Click here for details.
Philadelphia Eagles
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles and their NFL rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
SEPTA normally services approximately 268,000 riders across its bus, subway, trolley and trains system on an average weekday. With the possibility of more than one million people attending the Eagles parade, they estimate only being to accommodate one of every four attendees, SEPTA general manager Jeff Knueppel said.
"Be prepared for overcrowding," he said.
Transit officials urged riders to plan ahead and be prepared to deal with very crowded conditions. And if you plan on driving expect closed roads, parking restrictions and plenty of delays.
Here's what you need to know however you go:
Subway Riders
Insurance giant Independence Blue Cross is giving free rides on the Broad Street and Market-Frankford line subways but only some stations will be open. As stations and the streets above or below become crowded, SEPTA may close stations.
SEPTA's Broad Street Line
• On the Broad Street Line ONLY the following stations will be open: Fern Rock Transportation Center, Olney, Wyoming, Erie, North Philadelphia, Cecil B. Moore/Temple University, Girard, Race-Vine, Walnut-Locust, Ellsworth-Federal, Snyder and AT&T (Broad and Pattison).
• Local and express service will be offered with the first trains leaving Fern Rock at 4:45 a.m. and AT&T at 4:52 a.m.
• Each BSL car can carry around 180 passengers and there will be 118 cars running at one time so they can take around 30,000-plus passengers per hour, SEPTA said.
•Night Owl bus service is dependent on how quickly the parade route up Broad Street is cleared.
SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line
• Local service only as 6-train cars departs every five minutes or so.
• On the Market-Frankford Line ONLY the following stations will be open: Frankford Transportation Center, Arrott Transportation Center, Erie-Torresdale, Allegheny, Huntingdon, Girard, 2nd Street, 8th Street, 13th Street, 30th Street, 40th Street, 46th Street, 52nd Street, 60th Street and 69th Street Transportation Center.
• The first trains depart 69th Street at 4:45 a.m. and the Frankford Transportation Center at 4:36 a.m.
• Each MFL car can carry around 165 passengers and there will be 156 cars running at one time so they can take around 35,000-plus passengers per hour, SEPTA said.
Regional Rail
• 50,000 special Independence passes will be sold for $10, which allows for all-day travel across all SEPTA modes of transportation. If you don't have a pass, you won't be able to ride Regional Rail. Many of the passes sold out quickly at stations in the suburbs Wednesday.
• It is unclear if SEPTA will release extra passes.
• The agency will post a list of stations where tickets remain on its website at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
• Cash fares will NOT be accepted. Only special day passes and weekly and monthly day passes will be accepted. The special pass goes on sale Tuesday and are expected to be sold out by Wednesday evening.
• 11 lines from the suburbs will provide rides into Center City, with up to 70,300 riders able to board inbound trains.
• The entire system will be operating only inbound trains until 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
• The entire system will be operating only outbound trains, starting about 1:30 p.m.
• Up to 71,000 riders will be able to get onto Regional Rail lines in the morning at 37 outlying stations, with limited station stops.
• Normal parking spaces are available at the open SEPTA stations but are expected to fill up quickly. Additional parking will be available at Primos, Pennbrook and Philmont stations.
• The sale of weekly passes and monthly passes has been suspended until after the parade
Click here for SEPTA's latest Regional Rail parade plans.
Norristown High Speed Line
• All stations open with trains departing every 15 minutes as part of an "all day rush hour," SEPTA said.
• Normal fares will be collected.
• Riders transferring to the MFL at 69th Street should be prepared to wait in line.
• There will be 20 cars that carry 180 passengers each available, SEPTA said.
SEPTA Trolleys
• All stations will be open except 15th Street station.
• Trolley lines can handle nearly 40,000 riders a day.
• Normal fares will be in place on 94 trolley cars, which have a capacity of 80 passengers each.
SEPTA Bus
• 27 Routes will be on detour: 2, 4, 7, 9, 12, 16, 17, 21, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 64, 68, 79, 124, 125 and G
• More routes could be detoured throughout the day, SEPTA said.
SEPTA CCT
Will operate a regular service day but riders could be impacted by traffic and detours, SEPTA said.
SEPTA App
SEPTA urged people to download its app for information ahead of and on parade day.
PATCO
• PATCO will operate on a modified schedule Thursday between South Jersey and Center City Philadelphia
• PATCO will close its stations at 3 a.m. Thursday. Then only service Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Ferry Avenue, Broadway, 9th/10th and Locust Street stations in both directions from about 3:45 a.m. to 6 a.m.
• From 6 a.m. to about 1:50 p.m. PATCO will provide WESTBOUND-only express service from Lindenwold, Woodcrest, Ferry Avenue and Broadway stations in New Jersey to 9th/10th and Locust Street stations in Center City. During that time there will be no eastbound service.
• From about 1:20 p.m. to 8 p.m., PATCO will transition to EASTBOUND-only service from the same Center City stations to the same South Jersey stations.
• Regular fares will be collected and tickets will be sold at the open stations. Children 4 and younger ride for free.
• There will be no bicycles allowed on trains.
• Regular PATCO service resumes between 7:30 and 8:09 p.m., PATCO said.
Amtrak
• Regular fares are in effect for trains in and out of Philadelphia's 30th Street Station.
• Amtrak is adding increased capacity on its Keystone Service (New York - Philadelphia - Harrisburg).
• All riders on the Pennsylvanian (New York - Philadelphia – Pittsburgh) and Keystone lines will need to make reservations for Thursday, Amtrak said.
• Most trains between Harrisburg and Philadelphia are sold out before noon and on the return journey in the afternoon and evening, Amtrak said.
• Passengers can also book tickets to and from Philadelphia on the Northeast Corridor Line from Wilmington, Trenton and New York. Monthly and 10-ride tickets will be accepted. But, there were no apparent tickets available for Thursday morning from the Cornwells Heights station in the Philadelphia suburbs.
NJ Transit Rail
• Limited additional capacity will be added to select existing Atlantic City Rail Line trains.
• An extra train will operate between Atlantic City and Philadelphia 30th Street Station, departing Atlantic City at 8:26 a.m. and arriving in Philadelphia at 10:05 a.m.
• An extra train will depart Philadelphia at 4:19 p.m., arriving in Atlantic City at 6:12 p.m.
NJ Transit Bus
• Prior to 8 a.m., all Philadelphia bus routes will operate regular routing. All a.m. service on the 414/417/555 routes will go to 30th Street Station as scheduled.
• From 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., all Philadelphia bus service will be adjusted due to street closures and will make a single stop in Center City Philadelphia at 6th/Race St. While this adjusted service is operating, customers should plan to be at 6th/Race St. at the arrival times shown on the timetable.
• Customers riding Greyhound Terminal routes (313/315/317/551) must go to 6th/Race St. at the normal Greyhound departure time shown on the timetable.
• During p.m. peak period, routes 414/417/555 will NOT board at 30th Street Station. Customers must go to the 6th/Race stop and use the existing Market/7th Streets departure time shown on their timetable for guidance.
• After 7 p.m., all Philadelphia service will be restored to regular routing.
NJ Transit River LINE
• River LINE service will operate trains between Trenton and the Walter Rand Transportation Center (WRTC) in Camden and an additional train will provide service connecting the Waterfront Entertainment Center and WRTC.
• River LINE will maintain 15-minute peak period service throughout the mid-day hours and additional capacity will be added throughout the day.
NJ Transit Access Link
• Access Link will cancel all trips to and from Philadelphia.
Starr Bus Charter & Tours
Buses will arrive in Center City by 9 a.m. Thursday and depart at 4 p.m. The Center City drop off/pick up point is scheduled to be the National Constitution Center at 525 Arch Street at North Independence Mall East. Starr will adjust for the most convenient spot allowed. Get more information HERE.
Biking
• Biking is an option for getting to the parade but with bike lane closures, you will likely need to park your bike a distance from the parade route or Ben Franklin Parkway and plan to walk the rest.
• Parking along the Schuylkill River Trail could be an option, according to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.
• Don't own a bike? The Indego bike share service is also an option to get close to the parade route. They are offering 20-percent discounted Visitor Passes by entering "FlyEaglesFly"on their app or website. Click here for the list of stations that will be unavailable due to the Eagles celebration.
Walking
• People living within walking distance should plan on walking, organizers said.
• Even if you take public transit, wear comfortable shoes as you may have to walk long distances from stations to the parade route.
• The Ben Franklin Bridge south walkway will be open throughout Thursday for people coming from Camden and South Jersey.
Text "ReadyEagles" to 888777 to get updates from the city about parade and rally plans.
