More than 38K enter papal visit rail lottery

Only 18 Regional Rail stations will be in service during the weekend of Pope Francis’ scheduled visit Philadelphia. Now an online lottery has been launched to give consumers another opportunity to purchase tickets.

Events in Philadelphia include a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, to which the public is invited. SEPTA is selling a total of 350,000 passes for the weekend – 175,000 for both Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27.

In July, a deluge of visitors trying to buy tickets to ride Regional Rail lines during the papal visit – 54,000 in the first minute – crashed SEPTA’s e-commerce site. Only about 200 passes were sold. The passes cost $10 each.

Unlike last week’s attempt, the ticket lottery will not be first come, first served.

SEPTA says everyone who enters has an equal shot. Winners will then be notified by email and given the chance to complete their ticket purchase.

SEPTA instituted the lottery system in hopes that it would even out web traffic. SEPTA will mail out the passes.

“No matter what time you enter your lottery submission, everyone has the same chance of being selected, no matter what time you make your entry”, she said. From the master list of lottery victor, Ticketleap will weed out any fraudulent, duplicate or suspicious entries.