NEW YORK—The first permanent PATH train platform at the World Trade Center station opened to passengers Tuesday with service to Hoboken.
Platform A, as it is called, is unlike any other underground platform New Yorkers have seen. The design is modern, with clean white walls, marble floors, and bright lighting. The station walls are decorated by a large art installation produced by European students right after 9/11 as a symbol of their support.
When the first train docked at the platform Tuesday morning, passengers set eyes on it for the first time.
“It’s very modern compared to the other PATH train stations,” said Terrance Hines, a Brooklyn resident who commutes to Newport for work. “It’s a nice upgrade.”
The platform is about 15 feet wide and 550 feet long. It can accommodate 10 car trains. Currently the World Trade Center PATH station serves over 100,000 passengers a day. With the addition of this platform, it can accommodate an additional 60,000 passengers.
“This station itself is actually vital to this region in allowing commuters like myself to be able to access not just New York but specifically Lower Manhattan,” said Marilyn Shazor, regional administrator of the Federal Transit Administration and a PATH rider.
The original PATH station at the World Trade Center was shut down for two years after the 9/11 attacks. A temporary station was set up in 2003 and continues to operate as the new transportation hub is under construction. Platform A, as well as other structures to be opened in the near future, are permanent parts of the hub.
Platform A cost approximately $50 million, with 80 percent funded by the federal government. It is the first of four platforms to be launched. Each of the remaining three will be unveiled over the next three years, if everything goes according to plan.
“Since 9/11, our passengers have been faithful and patient during the renewal process. Today, we get a glimpse of the future of PATH service at this site,” said Stephen Kingsberry, director and general manager at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The World Trade Center Transportation Hub is designed to be the third largest transportation center in New York. It will serve over 200,000 daily commuters. Currently, the West Concourse is open to the public. The project is expected to cost approximately $4 billion when completed in 2015.
