Exchange Place PATH Station

Rank #18
Cost: $160 million

After just 16 months of construction, the World Trade Center PATH station was reopened on Nov. 23. The critical rail link connects Lower Manhattan to New Jersey and serves approximately 50,000 commuters a day.

The majority of the work under the Exchange Place restoration project involved the construction of new crossover tunnels and track to create a terminal station that will enable trains to turn around in Jersey City rather than at the World Trade Center, as they did prior to Sept. 11, 2001.

When the World Trade Center PATH station was destroyed, there was no operational way to get trains in and out of the Exchange Place station without creating serious disruption to other services. In addition, the station's platforms were extended to accommodate up to 10-car trains.

To transform Exchange Place into a terminal, the platform was extended by 125 ft. The new track switches are faster, decreasing commuter wait periods.

The work to repair the tubes beneath the Hudson River required completely gutting the tunnels of infrastructure, including electric cables, tracks, ballast, lighting and concrete from the lining that encases 320,000 ft. of cables. The only thing that remained intact was the cast iron tube made of countless curved plates bolted together, a structure that was built almost 100 years ago.

The majority of the infrastructure replaced inside the cast iron tubes was damaged by the water used by New York City firefighters at Ground Zero. The constant flow of water eventually flooded the tubes completely. A concrete plug was placed at the end of the tubes at Exchange Place to prevent further water damage. The operations of the Exchange Place terminal will now be controlled by a new microprocessor system, which will control the signal system for the reopened terminal and will eventually operate the WTC station when it comes on line.

The reopening also means restored connections between several other PATH stations, including Newark to Exchange Place, Exchange Place to Hoboken, Journal Square to 33rd Street and Hoboken to 33rd Street.

The work at Exchange Place, as well as the tunnels and reconstruction of the PATH station on the New York side, was done by a tri-venture between Yonkers Construction Inc., Tully Construction Co. Inc. and A.J. Pegno Construction Co.

Officials plan to develop the permanent World Trade Center station into a transportation hub. Preliminary plans are to link the World Trade Center hub with the proposed $750 million Fulton Street Transit Center. Opening of the $2 billion station is planned for 2006.

The federal government earmarked $1.8 billion for restoring New York subway and PATH service, and officials say the new PATH line will tie in more seamlessly with mass transit on the New York side.

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