About 20,000 special train passes for weekend of Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia go unsold

Special train passes for the weekend of Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia aren't as big a hit as expected.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority said Tuesday that about 20,000 of the commuter rail tickets remained unsold.

SEPTA is selling the passes through an online lottery. It says it received requests for 328,045 passes during Monday's one-day sale.

The agency is capping ridership at 175,000 for each day of Francis' Sept. 26-27 visit. That means 350,000 passes were available.

Overwhelming demand last week crashed a SEPTA website and forced a halt to ticket sales.

People signed up through the lottery will have three days to complete the purchase. If they miss the deadline, someone else will be selected.

SEPTA is limiting papal visit service to select stations.