More than 38K enter papal visit rail lottery

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — More than 38,000 entries have been received in an online lottery for special rail passes to be used during Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will randomly email winners on Thursday.

The winners will have will have three days to purchase up to 10 one-day tickets. If they miss the deadline, another winner will be selected.

CBS Philly reports not everyone requested the maximum of 10 tickets for $10 each.

Entrants will be able to choose travel dates — Sept. 26, Sept. 27 or both — and then enter up to three preferred outlying regional rail stations and pick travel times from those stations.

Overwhelming demand forced a halt to ticket sales last week.

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