It was one of the first big events tied to the visit of Pope Francis for the World Meeting of Families in September.
It did not go exactly as planned.
Everyone expected there would be a huge demand Monday when SEPTA put the special passes it plans to use for all travel on the regional rail lines for the two-day visit on Sept. 26-27.
You will not be able to use the regional rails without these special tickets.
That's why yesterday's sale was anticipated to spark a huge demand.
They weren't wrong.
But even SEPTA was taken aback at the online avalanche that struck shortly after the passes went on sale at 9 a.m.
SEPTA's computers could not handle the onslaught, and the transit agency was forced to suspend sales shortly after they were launched.
SEPTA says it will have an announcement today as to when the passes will be put back on sale, and vows that they will give at least 24-hour notice for those interested in buying the passes.
They plan to sell 175,000 of the special passes for each of the two days.
The good news? The majority of the passes have not yet been sold. SEPTA assures customers plenty are still available for purchase.
SEPTA explained that they tested the system and were set to handle a volume of 1,700 sales per second. But when sales went live on line at 9 a.m., the system was overwhelmed by a tidal wave of more than 900,000 visits.
They vow to get the system right before putting it back online again.
Probably not the start they wanted to one of the biggest events in the region's history.
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