 |
|
| |
|
||||
Missing image PATH_junction.jpg A drawing of the northern of the two underground junctions on the New Jersey side. The two western tracks at the bottom were never built. PATH (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.
HistoryThe PATH, originally known as the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (or simply the Hudson Tubes), 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. 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 Penn Station 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 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 (Hoboken, Pavonia, Exchange Place, and Newark) with New York City. While it still provides a connection to train stations in Hoboken and Newark, the commuter train stations at Pavonia (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. Recently, the Port Authority has allocated funds to conduct a feasibility study of extending PATH 2 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 have been on the drawing board for years, but there has been no movement on either project. Early timeline
Stations Map of PATH system New Jersey
New York
Three stations have been closed - two in Manhattan, 19th Street and 28th Street, and one in New Jersey, Manhattan Transfer, between Harrison and Journal Square. In addition, the Newark terminus was originally at Park Place and Mulberry Street, and the Harrison station was several blocks north, at Railroad Avenue. ServicePATH operates 4 train services, using two terminals in New Jersey and two terminals in Manhattan:
From 11:00pm to 6:00am Monday to Friday and 7:30pm to 9:00am Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, PATH operates two train services:
PATH operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. FaresMissing image Pathquickcard.jpg PATH QuickCard
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York introduced a program in which the MTA's Pay-Per-Ride Metrocard would be valid for payment of fares on the PATH service. The program first began at the temporary World Trade Center station. It is expected that the program will be fully implemented at all PATH stations by the end of 2004. Non Pay-Per-Ride Metrocards such as Monthly, Reduced Fares and Unlimited Ride cannot be used to pay for fares on the PATH system. It should be noted that PATH Quickcards are only valid on the PATH rail system; there are no plans to implement the use of the PATH Quickcard system at MTA owned stations. World Trade Center stationThe World Trade Center station, which is one of PATH's two New York terminals, was destroyed on September 11, 2001 after terrorists crashed two hijacked airplanes into the north and south World Trade Center towers and the buildings collapsed. 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. 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
References
External links
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy
::
Terms of Use
:: Contact Us
:: About Us This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hudson and Manhattan Railroad". |