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    1. Rail

    PA: SEPTA Hosts Kickoff Rally for Weekend Overnight Subway Pilot

    June 12, 2014
    Free XFINITY WiFi Also Now Available at Most Broad Street Line Stations.
    Related To: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)

    To celebrate the start of late-night Friday and Saturday service on the Broad Street and Market Frankford Lines, SEPTA held a lunchtime rally June 12 at the Walnut-Locust Station featuring live music, giveaways and pretzels.

    Officials from Comcast were also on hand to announce that free Xfinity WiFi Internet access is now available at nearly every subway
    station on the Broad Street Line.

    At the request of customers, city officials and business leaders, SEPTA will begin a pilot program of overnight weekend service on the Broad Street and Market-Frankford Lines at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, June 15. Trains will operate every 20 minutes, replacing the existing bus service that currently operates during the early morning hours on Saturday and Sunday. SEPTA will operate the pilot program until Labor Day. The Authority will use the results from the pilot to determine whether to continue the service.

    The pilot program launch coincides with the completion of Xfinity WiFi installations at most Broad Street Line subway stations. This expansion will offer the 125,000 SEPTA riders who use the line daily the opportunity to be among the first in the nation to enjoy free, underground Internet access on subway platforms.

    “With the growth of late-night entertainment and dining options in the city, SEPTA is excited to provide a trial of weekend overnight train service that our riders have asked us for,“ said Deputy General Manager, Jeffrey D. Knueppel. As a bonus to the pilot program, this partnership with Comcast expands availability of a high quality station amenity with no additional costs to riders or SEPTA’s bottom-line.”

    “Consumers want to be able to connect to the Internet both inside and outside of the home and WiFi is part of our strategy to help them do that anywhere and at any time,” said Amalia O’Sullivan, Vice President of Xfinity Internet, Comcast Cable. “Our partnership with SEPTA allows us to offer Xfinity WiFi in key commuter regional rail stations and we’ve recently expanded the service to offer Wi-Fi at stations along the Broad Street Line.”

    Access to the Xfinity WiFi network at SEPTA stations is available by following a few simple steps. Using a phone or mobile WiFienabled device, select the “xfinitywifi” network and follow the prompts to begin the session. Xfinity Internet customers can log in using their Xfinity ID and password. Non-customers can get online by clicking a separate link and following the instructions provided.