|
|
Port Authority Trans-hudsonPATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) is an electric railroad linking Manhattan, New York with New Jersey, and providing service to Jersey City, Hoboken, Harrison, and Newark. It is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. While some PATH stations are adjacent to New York City subway, Newark City Subway and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail stations, there are no free transfers, and the four systems operate independently. PATH spans 13.8 miles (22.2 km) of route mileage, not including any route overlap. PATH trains only use tunnels in Manhattan and parts of New Jersey (specifically, Hoboken and downtown Jersey City). The tracks cross the Hudson River through century-old cast iron tubes that rest on the river bottom under a thin layer of muck. PATH routes in most of New Jersey run in open cuts, at grade level, and on elevated track. History The PATH, originally known as the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, predates the New York City subway system (the IRT). Although the railroad was first planned in 1874, existing technologies could not safely tunnel under the Hudson River. Construction began on the existing tunnels in 1890, but stopped shortly thereafter when funding ran out. Indeed, construction did not resume until 1900 under the direction of William Gibbs McAdoo, an ambitious, young lawyer who had moved to New York from Tennessee. McAdoo would later become president of what would, for many years, be known as the H&M, Hudson Tubes or McAdoo Tunnels. The first trains ran in 1907 and revenue service started between Hoboken and 19th Street at midnight on February 26, 1908. On July 19, 1909, service began between Lower Manhattan and Jersey City, through a set of tunnels located about 1 1/4 miles south of the first pair. After the completion of the uptown Manhattan extension to 33rd Street and the westward extension to Newark and the now-defunct Manhattan Transfer in 1911, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad was considered to be complete. The cost of the entire project was estimated at between $55 and $60 million, equal to more than $1 billion in present-day dollars. The Hudson Tubes were an engineering marvel of the era. It was the first ever transportation system under a major river, pre-dating both those of the New York City subway system and the Pennsylvania Railroad's tunnel into Manhattan. Originally, the Hudson Tubes were designed to link the major railroad stations in New Jersey — Lackawanna in Hoboken, Erie and PRR in Jersey City — with New York City. While it still provides a connection to train stations in Hoboken and Newark, the commuter train stations at Erie (now Pavonia-Newport) and Exchange Place have since closed down. In recent years, the old rail yards at Pavonia and Exchange Place have been replaced with large-scale office, residential, and retail developments. The original plan included an agreement between H&M and the Pennsylvania Railroad whereby PRR traffic headed for Lower Manhattan would transfer at Manhattan Transfer to the Hudson Tubes, and H&M would operate all traffic — ferry, train, or tube — between Lower Manhattan and Newark. The Tubes would also take over operation of the Jersey City Pennsylvania Railroad station at Exchange Place, when the new Pennsylvania Station in midtown Manhattan were to open, which would have its own tunnel under the Hudson River. Penn Station in Manhattan did open some ten years later, but the plans had changed; the PRR maintained operation of its Jersey City Station and they also maintained their ferries between Exchange Place and Lower Manhattan. Additionally, the route between Journal Square (then Summit Avenue) and Newark became a joint operation of the H&M and PRR. Attempts to extend the Tubes to Astor Place and Grand Central Terminal failed, even after some construction began on the extension. There was also a plan to build an extension from the curve west of Hoboken Terminal to where Secaucus Junction is now, and a plan for a north-south connection from the 33rd Street Station south on Broadway to Union Square and then a new alignment to Hudson Terminal. The opening of the Holland Tunnel in 1927, coupled with the Depression that began shortly after, marked the decline of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad. Later, the construction of the Lincoln Tunnel and the George Washington Bridge further enticed people away from the railroad. Promotions and other advertising proved ineffectual at slowing the financial decline. In the 1950s, H&M fell into bankruptcy. However, the Tubes would not taken over by the Port Authority until the late 1960s. For decades, New Jersey politicians wanted the Port Authority to operate the vital transit link, but Port Authority officials were reluctant to assume the money losing operation, and New York politicians did not want extra Port Authority money spent in New Jersey. The compromise was reached over the World Trade Center. The Port Authority agreed to purchase and maintain the Tubes in return for the rights to build the World Trade Center on the lands occupied by H&M's Hudson Terminal, which was the Lower Manhattan terminus of the Tubes. In 1962, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Company ceased operation of the Hudson Tubes, and service began through the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation, a subsidiary organization of the Port Authority. Recently, the Port Authority has allocated funds to conduct a feasibility study of extending PATH two miles south of Newark Penn Station to Newark Liberty International Airport. If the project is deemed to be possible from an engineering, operational, and financial standpoint, the Port Authority would include funding for the project in its Capital Plan. The extension to Newark Airport is estimated to cost $500 million. Extensions of PATH to Newark Airport and Plainfield, New Jersey have been on the drawing board for years, but there has been no movement on either project. Construction of the tunnels The first tunnel (the northernmost of the uptown pair) was originally built without an excavation shield or iron construction because the chief engineer of the time, DeWitt Haskins, believed that the river silt was strong enough to maintain the tunnel's form (with the help of compressed air) until a 2 1/2 foot thick brick lining could be constructed. Haskins' plan was to excavate the tunnel, then fill it with compressed air to expel the water and to hold the iron plate lining in place. They succeeded in building the tunnel out by approximately 1,200 feet from Jersey City until a series of blowouts — including a particularly serious one in 1880 that took the lives of 20 workers — ended the project. When the New York and Jersey Tunnel Company resumed construction on the tunnels in 1902, they employed a different method of tunnelling using tubular cast iron plating. An enormous mechanical shield was pushed through the silt at the bottom of the river. The displaced mud would then be placed into a chamber, where it would later be shoveled into small cars that hauled it to the surface. In some cases, the silt would be baked with kerosene torches to facilitate easier removal of the mud. The southernmost tunnel of the uptown pair, as well as the downtown tunnels, were all constructed using the tubular cast iron method. The tunnels in Manhattan, on the other hand, employed cut and cover construction methods. Early timeline - February 26, 1908: The uptown tubes open from 19th Street to Hoboken Terminal.
- June 15, 1908: The H&M is extended from 19th Street to 23rd Street.
- July 19, 1909: The downtown tubes open from Hudson Terminal to Exchange Place.
- August 2, 1909: The New Jersey-side connection opens, between Exchange Place and the junction near Hoboken.
- November 10, 1910: The H&M is extended from 23rd Street to 33rd Street.
- November 27, 1910: The PRR tunnel to New York Penn Station opens.
- October 1, 1911: The H&M is extended from Exchange Place west to Manhattan Transfer.
- November 26, 1911: The H&M opens to Park Place, Newark.
- June 20, 1937: Manhattan Transfer is closed and the H&M is realigned to Newark Penn Station; the Harrison station is moved several blocks south. On the same day, the Newark City Subway is extended to Newark Penn Station.
Stations are currently 13 active PATH stations: New Jersey New York Closed stations - 19th Street station was closed in 1954 ostensibly to speed service through midtown Manhattan.
- 28th Street station was closed in 1937 when the 33rd Street station was extended southward.
- Hudson Terminal was replaced with the World Trade Center station in 1971.
- Manhattan Transfer, between Harrison and Journal Square, was closed in 1937 when the PATH (then-H&M) was realigned to Newark Penn Station.
In addition, the Newark terminus was originally at Park Place and Mulberry Street, and the Harrison station was several blocks north, at Railroad Avenue. Service PATH operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. During normal hours, PATH operates four train services, using two terminals in New Jersey and two in Manhattan. Each line is represented by a unique color, which also corresponds to the color of the lights on the front of the trains. The Journal Square-33rd Street (via Hoboken) service is the only line represented by two colors, since it is an after-hours combination of the Journal Square-33rd Street and Hoboken-33rd Street services. - Newark-World Trade Center
- Hoboken-World Trade Center
- Journal Square-33rd Street
- Hoboken-33rd Street
After 23:00 and before 06:00 Monday to Friday, and after 19:30 and before 09:00 Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, PATH operates two train services: - Newark-World Trade Center
- Journal Square-33rd Street (via Hoboken)
After September 11, 2001, PATH closed its World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations. Two uptown services—Newark-33rd Street and Hoboken-33rd Street—and one intra-state New Jersey service—Hoboken-Journal Square—were put into operation. Only one after-hours train was put into service, Newark-33rd Street (via Hoboken). When Exchange Place opened in June 2003, the following trains were put into service: Newark-Exchange Place and Hoboken-Exchange Place. Fares of 2001, the following is the schedule of fares for the PATH: - One-Way $1.50 (Cash or MTA Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard / QuickCard not available for one-way trips / No discounts)
- Roundtrip $3.00 (Cash, PATH QuickCard or MTA Pay-Per-Ride Metrocard / No discounts)
- Eleven Trip $15.00 (PATH QuickCard Only / Fare discounted to $1.36 per trip)
- Twenty Trip $24.00 (PATH QuickCard Only / Fare discounted to $1.20 per trip)
- Forty Trip $48.00 (PATH QuickCard Only / Fare discounted to $1.20 per trip)
- Senior Citizens $1.00 (Seniors age 65 and older must possess a PATH Senior Fare Card in order to pay the Senior Fare)
Smart card turnstiles The Port Authority is installing new fare collection turnstiles at all PATH stations, a project which should be completed by April of 2005. These turnstiles, which have been implemented at all New York stations and most New Jersey stations, allow passengers to pay their fare with an MTA Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard or a PATH QuickCard — and eventually with a smart card. The project is part of a Port Authority project to implement usage of a regional smart card that could be used on transit systems throughout the New York metropolitan area. The new turnstile program first began at the temporary World Trade Center station. It should be noted that Pay-Per-Ride Metrocards such as Monthly, Reduced Fares and Unlimited Ride cannot be used to pay for fares on the PATH system. PATH QuickCards are still only valid on the PATH rail system; there are no plans to implement the use of the PATH QuickCard system at MTA owned stations. After September 11th The World Trade Center station, which is one of PATH's two New York terminals, was destroyed on September 11, 2001. Just prior to the collapse the station was closed and any waiting passengers that were in the station were evacuated by a train that was already inside of the terminal. With the station destroyed, however, service to Lower Manhattan was suspended for over two years. Exchange Place, the next station on the Newark-World Trade Center line, also had to be closed due to flooding through the tunnels. Although the water damage was reparable, Exchange Place was not designed as a "terminal" station and had to be re-configured as a terminus for a temporary Newark-Exchange Place service. The new Exchange Place station opened in June 2003. PATH service to Lower Manhattan was restored when a $323 million temporary station opened on November 23, 2003; the inaugural train was the same one that had been used for the evacuation. The new station still contains portions of the original station but it does not have any type of heating or air conditioning systems installed, and is very functional in its design. The permanent World Trade Center PATH station, expected to be complete by 2009 at a cost of $2 billion, will likely be paid for through insurance settlements relating to the events of September 11th and through taxpayers funds by the State of New York and the State of New Jersey. Trivia - A screen projection of an advertisement can be seen between World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations, but it can only be seen on trains headed for New Jersey.
- Every year, around Thanksgiving, PATH employees put up and decorate a lit Christmas tree at a switching station in the tunnel used by trains running from 33rd Street and Hoboken into the Pavonia/Newport station. This tradition has continued since the 1950s, when a signal operator, Joe Wojtowicz, started hanging a string of Christmas lights in the tunnel. While PATH officials were initially concerned about putting up decorations in the tunnel, they acquiesced and the tradition continues to this day. After the September 11th, 2001 attacks, a back-lit U.S. flag was put up beside the tree as a tribute to the victims of the attacks.
External links References - Fitzherbert, Anthony. 1964. The Public Be Pleased: William G. McAdoo and the Hudson Tubes. Electric Railroaders Association. Available online at http://www.nycsubway.org/nyc/path/hmhistory/.
- Trolley Tunnel Open to Jersey, New York Times February 26, 1908 page 1
- To Extend Hudson Tunnel, New York Times June 12, 1908 page 6
- Under the Hudson by Four Tubes Now, New York Times July 18, 1909 page 3
- Erie Commuters Held Up, New York Times August 3, 1909 page 1
- M'Adoo Would Build A West Side Subway, New York Times September 16, 1910 page 20
- Open McAdoo Extension, New York Times November 10, 1910 page 10
- Open Pennsylvania Station To-night, New York Times November 26, 1910 page 5
- Improved Transit Facilities by Newark High Speed Line, New York Times October 1, 1911 page XX2
- Tube Service to Newark, New York Times November 26, 1911 page 9
- New Station Open for Hudson Tubes, New York Times June 20, 1937 page 35
|
 |