With WrestleMania coming to Philadelphia, SEPTA will add more patrols on Broad Street Line, Regional Rail
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- SEPTA will begin offering extra Broad Street Line and Regional Rail service for WrestleMania events Thursday.
SEPTA also unveiled a safety plan for the 200,000 fans expected to visit Philadelphia.
"I'm so pumped. One of the biggest WrestleManias ever and in one of the best cities on planet earth," said Sean O'Neil, who is going this weekend. "Came down here to check out all the banners they have hung up — it's awesome."
O'Neil has been a fan of WrestleMania for as long as he can remember.
"I actually met The Rock when Franklin Mills Mall had him over there. So I still have a picture of The Rock when I was younger, so it's kind of crazy to think of how much bigger he's gotten since then and he's gonna be down at the Linc this weekend," O'Neil said.
O'Neil is one of hundreds of thousands of riders who use SEPTA on any given week.
Later this week, city officials are expecting many many more to use the Broad Street Line on their way to the Linc.
"We're looking forward to the over hundreds of thousands of people that are expected to come for the WWE the next five days and to prepare for that, we have increased patrols everywhere from Jefferson Station down to the NRG stadiums," SEPTA Police Captain R. Kitt Walls said.
Walls said they typically deploy 80 officers for weekend services.
But now they will be adding 30% more patrols for WrestleMania's events across the city.
"Knowing how SEPTA has been over the last couple years, definitely a lot comfort in hearing that they are going to make more of an effort with the increase population this upcoming weekend," O'Neil said.
SEPTA will also deploy 100 employee volunteer ambassadors at Jefferson and NRG stations. They will be working alongside SEPTA outreach services to help fans maneuver around the city.
Along with the extra manpower, the department's virtual patrol unit has access to 30,000 cameras to monitor any criminal activity involving the country's sixth-largest transportation system.
SEPTA officials said they will begin those additional services on Friday for the WWE Smackdown at Wells Fargo Center and throughout the weekend.
