Lansdale Expects To Be A 'Hub' During Pope Visit: Report

Lansdale officials are already hard at work preparing for Pope Francis’ visit to the area in September, according to a story by The Reporter.

Per the report:

“Obviously it’s a big event for the area, and we want to do our part to see that it comes off successfully,” borough Manager Jake Ziegler told the Reporter.

Lansdale officials have been discussing with Upper Gwynedd, the North Penn School District, Montgomery County, and SEPTA officials how to handle the expected influx of traffic on those two days, and plans are not finalized yet but will be publicized as arrangement are made. Those plans will have a considerable impact on Lansdale, Ziegler announced Wednesday, with the biggest change being that Pennbrook Station on Church Road, not the train station at Main and Broad streets, will be open for rail riders.

Express trains will leave from Pennbrook “on a roughly 30-minute schedule,” from 5:30 a.m. through the rest of the morning, according to Ziegler, and rail tickets will be sold for certain windows — certain tickets will only be good from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m. and others will only be good from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

SEPTA has already announced that only those who purchase a specific pass for the week of the Pope’s visit will be able to ride the rail.

Tickets went on sale on Monday but the website crashed, and it’s been announced that the passes will not be sold this week.