Pope’s Visit Expected To Bring Influx Of Vehicles To Area Train Stations

Tullytown Borough Chief of Police Daniel Doyle said Tuesday night that the borough of barely 1,900 people could see an influx of 3,500 vehicles coming to town in late September.

Doyle said in a social media post that the Levittown Train Station has been added to SEPTA’s list of 31 stops where express-style service will be picking up passengers with pre-purchased tickets during Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia on Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27.

In Bucks County, the Croydon, Cornwell Heights, Warminster and Woodbourne stations are already on the list.

Middletown Chief of Police Joseph Bartorilla said several weeks back that he expects to have extra officers working to deal with increased traffic in and around the Woodbourne Train Station and local highways.

“We are asking anyone who is planning on taking the train on these days to be dropped off and picked up to reduce the parking footprint,” Doyle said.

The Tullytown Train Station has roughly 380 parking spots and the Woodbourne Train Station features about 500, according to transit agency officials.

SEPTA officials have said recently that shrinking the amount of stops and providing express train-style service will reduce travel times as more than 1 million people are expected to descend upon Philadelphia for the Pope’s visit.

While the Pope is not expected to make any stops in Bucks County, local hotels are more than 90 percent filled for the weekend the leader of the Catholic Church will be spending in Philadelphia.

SEPTA officials have said the following about special tickets needed for the Pope’s visit:

A special $10, three-day SEPTA transit pass, valid from Saturday, September 26 through Monday, September 28, will be sold for travel on subways, buses and trolleys. Standard SEPTA passes and tokens can also be used on these transit modes.   For Regional Rail, a one-day special event pass valid for Saturday, and another valid for Sunday, will be sold for $10 each in advance. Only those riders with the pre-purchased special event passes will be permitted to ride Regional Rail. Quantities for sale will be limited to the number of riders SEPTA can carry on the vehicles in operation. No passes will be sold on the day of the event.

Philadelphia officials have hinted that once train travelers get to the city, they should expect to do a lot of walking to see the Pope.

During his fall visit, the Pope is also expected to stop in New York City and Washington D.C.