SEPTA gets ready for golf's U.S. Open

With increased train and trolley service and stepped-up security, SEPTA is preparing for thousands of extra passengers headed to next month's U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore.

In terms of crowds and inconvenience, think Flower Show, not World Series parade. SEPTA expects some crowded trains during rush hours, but not the hundreds of thousands of people who overwhelmed the system for the Phillies' victory parade in 2008.

"We're going to be on display for a lot of out-of-town people, and we're putting our best foot forward," said Ronald Hopkins, SEPTA's assistant general manager of operations. "We're ready for them."

As many as 38,000 spectators and volunteers are expected to descend daily on the golf course for the June 10-16 tournament, and SEPTA is focusing on two stations to handle most of the crowd: Rosemont Station on the Paoli Regional Rail line and Ardmore Avenue Station on the Norristown High Speed Line.

Extra cars will be added to Paoli trains to handle the additional passengers, and extra trains will run on both the Paoli line and the Norristown High Speed Line. Free shuttle buses will carry visitors from Rosemont Station to the golf course two miles away, operating every five to 10 minutes.

"The challenge here is that we're still bringing in our weekday ridership," Hopkins said.

On crowded trains, regular commuters might find it "as frustrating as when the Flower Show is on and people are carrying pussy willows and stuff," Hopkins said. This year, rail ridership was up 14 percent during Flower Show week. But many of the golf visitors will be going in the opposite direction of daily commuters, outbound from Center City hotels in the mornings and headed into Philadelphia in the evenings.

During peak times, SEPTA will operate 39 shuttle buses to move golf spectators to and from Rosemont Station. SEPTA supervisors and police will be on hand to direct passengers and control crowds.

SEPTA, which has been planning for the U.S. Open for 18 months, repaired the badly deteriorated Rosemont Station a year ahead of schedule to get it ready for the tournament crowds.

"We hustled to make the station presentable and get rid of safety and liability issues," said deputy general manager Jeffrey D. Knueppel.

SEPTA rebuilt a platform and retaining wall, repaired stairways, and installed new lighting. The upgrades will cost SEPTA $350,000.

And the passenger platform at the Ardmore Avenue trolley station was lengthened, to accommodate two two-car trains at a time.

SEPTA is being reimbursed up to $100,000 by the United States Golf Association for its help with a temporary pedestrian bridge over the trolley tracks, linking the golf course to hospitality areas at Haverford College. The USGA, which is building the bridge, will remove it after the tournament.

In addition to extra trains and additional cars, SEPTA will operate Paoli line trains on a Saturday schedule on Sunday, June 16, to accommodate U.S. Open visitors, Hopkins said.

Details of SEPTA's special U.S. Open schedules are at www.septa.org/events/usga.html