Signup for chance at those SEPTA rail passes during papal visit starts 12:01 a.m. Monday

Regional rail riders looking to buy SEPTA's special passes for use during Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia next month have 24 hours to register for a chance to land them.

After high demand during a first attempt to sell the passes overloaded the transit authority's website last month, SEPTA announced it will distribute tickets through a lottery with registration starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

Users will have until 11:59 p.m. Monday night to sign up. All registrants will have the same chance to win no matter what time they sign up, officials say.

SEPTA plans to distribute a total of 350,000 rail passes for the weekend of the papal visit - 175,000 for both Saturday Sept. 26 and Sunday Sept. 27.

Those whose requests for $10 passes are selected will be contacted Thursday, transit officials said.

Here's what you need to know:

The link to the lottery will be available at SEPTA's website, www.septa.org.

Bidders can seek up to 10 passes for each of the two days of the pope's visit. One-day passes will cost $10 each.

Winners will be notified by e-mail Thursday and have three days to pay for their passes. The passes will be mailed two to three weeks later.

Only the special papal visit passes will be honored on Regional Rail trains the weekend of the pope's visit.

SEPTA plans to announce details later this week on its plans to sell three-day papal passes for subways, trolleys, and buses.

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