World Trade Center (PATH)

The September 11th attacks, more commonly simply known as 9/11, were a horrific incident that happened, well, on September 11th, 2001. I’m not going to talk about it too much as I’m sure y’all (the reader) know about the horrifying things that happened that day, the fact that 2977 people passed, the ensuing legislation that passed (including the Patriot Act and the birth of the Department of Homeland Security, and the TSA), airport security becoming much more stringent (and not loosening up since), among other things. I’m also not going to make any 9/11 jokes, given the rather dark nature of things. With that in mind, here’s World Trade Center on PATH.

So, the original PATH station was instead named “Hudson Terminal” and was built by the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad, but that got replaced by what’d become the old World Trade Center station in 1971. Consisting of a few balloon loops and 10 car long platforms, it was an upgrade. All the while, it served trains going to both Hoboken and Newark – which still holds true today. Unfortunately, however, trouble would arise as the 21st century inched closer. To be more exact, the station sustained some relatively minor damage after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center with a ceiling collapse trapping a few people, however service would resume shortly after the incident. In 2001, however, things would get even worse for the station – and NYC as a whole. As I stated in the opening paragraph above, 9/11 happened.

So, how did the Port Authority handle things? After the North Tower was struck at the tail end of the AM rush hour commute, a few PATH trains had arrived into the station – one from Newark and two from Hoboken. The first Hoboken train that arrived just hightailed it out without so much as opening the doors. Were people confused? Probably, initially. As for the second Hoboken train, the train was evacuated and didn’t leave the station. It’d then be found among all the debris. The third train, from Newark? It was actually forcefully offloaded at Exchange Place and deadheaded to the station to pick up people left behind. There was also a fourth train that deadheaded to the station, with the sole purpose of picking up every last PATH employee – and a homeless person (who, according to an NJ.com article I found, took effort to get onto the train). Unfortunately, the North Tower gave way and collapsed.

A temporary station would be built and opened in 2003, and the present station, located within “The Oculus” (which I personally very much hate from an aesthetic POV – too sterile for my liking) would open in 2016. With that in mind, let’s review the actual station. It’s rather sterile, with a very, VERY large mezzanine and high amount of faregates. There’s also elevators, given this was built in a post-ADA landscape, as well as a few ticketing machines outside fare control. The platforms themselves are VERY clean, albeit rather sterile in appearance. There’s also countdown clocks, signage indicating what lines stop on what tracks (offpeak, only 2 tracks are in use – I would hope more are used during peak hours as this is one of the busiest, if not THE busiest, PATH stations), and even some seating. There’s also out-of-system connections to the #1 line at Cortlandt St., the A, C, and E lines at the MTA’s Chambers St.-WTC station, the R and W at another Cortlandt St. station, and the 2 and 3 lines at Park Place. Also, there exists a passage under Dey Street to the Fulton Street complex. Overall, though, it’s not a bad station, and I presume is very much a straight upgrade from the pre-9/11 version.

The good: It’s new! It’s accessible! It’s also located in a shopping center and a major employment center (lower Manhattan). Furthermore, it’s probably among the cleanest subway stations I’ve ever seen in my life. You also have direct service to both Newark and Hoboken from here.

The bad: It’s a bit sterile, but that’s minor. Also, does PATH just not sell TAPP cards?

Nearby points of interest: The WTC complex. Duh. Also, Battery Park City, a few parks, among other things.

Transit connections:
PATH (Hoboken-WTC, Newark-WTC)
MTA bus (M9, M20, M22, M55, BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, BxM18, QM7, QM8, QM11, SIM1, SIM2, SIM3, SIM4, SIM7, SIM9, SIM15, SIM32, SIM33, SIM34, X27, X28)
WTC Cortlandt (1), Park Place (2,3), Cortlandt St. (R, W), and Chambers St.-World Trade Center (A, C, E) stations (out of system)

Overall, it’s not a bad station, is easily among the best on PATH, and also carries quite a bit of contemporary history.

Rating: 10/10