Exchange Place (PATH station)

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Exchange Place
Station statistics
Address Foot of Montgomery Street at Hudson River
Jersey City, New Jersey
Lines PATH:
NWK–WTC
HOB–WTC
Connections Hudson-Bergen Light Rail
NJT Bus: 1, 43, 64, 68, 80, 81
Red & Tan in Hudson County: 4
Montgomery & Westside IBOA
Platforms 2 inter-connected side platforms
Tracks 2
Parking 480-car parking garage
Other information
Opened 1909
Rebuilt late 1960s / early 1970s
Accessible Handicapped/disabled access
Owned by Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Traffic
Passengers (2004) 2.912 million ▲ 50%
Services
Preceding station   PATH   Following station
    Regular service    
toward Newark
 NWK–WTC
Terminus
toward Hoboken
 HOB–WTC
    Nights, weekends and holidays    
toward Newark
 NWK–WTC
Terminus

The Exchange Place PATH station, opened on July 19, 1909, is located in Jersey City, New Jersey, adjacent to the Hudson River at Paulus Hook. The station serves the Goldman Sachs Tower and other buildings in this area, also sometimes referred to as "Wall Street West".

The station provides service to Hoboken and Pennsylvania Station, in Newark, New Jersey. The station also provides direct access to Lower Manhattan, with connections to the New York City Subway at the World Trade Center PATH station. PATH service to 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan is also available, via transfer at Pavonia/Newport.

The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail has a stop outside the Exchange Place PATH station, providing service to Hoboken, Liberty State Park, and Bayonne, New Jersey.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Original station

The original Exchange Place station opened on July 19, 1909, but was replaced in the late 1960s / early 1970s after the Port Authority took over operations of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad.

In the early years of the H&M Railroad, there were a number of incidents, including a derailment on April 26, 1942 that resulted in five deaths and over 200 injuries. In that incident, the train operator Louis Vierbucken was charged with manslaughter, as he was under the influence of liquor. Court records recount that he "began to go faster and faster, disregarding warning signals and curves" and then the train derailed at the station.[1]

[edit] Present day

Exchange Place station
Exchange Place station

The present-day station entrance pavilion at Exchange Place was constructed at a cost of $66 million [2], and was dedicated on September 13, 1989. At this time, the surrounding Paulus Hook area was beginning to undergo revitalization with new office building construction. The station entrance is located approximately 100 feet west of the former, original station entrance. The station features three 150 foot-long escalators that provide access to the platform level, located 75 feet beneath street level. [2] In 1991, an elevator was installed to make the station accessible for the disabled, in accordance to the Americans with Disabilities Act. [3] The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail began service in April 2000, initially providing connections to Bayonne.

The Exchange Place station was closed as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks, due to water damage. Before the attacks, the station served 16,000 passengers daily [4]. The World Trade Center station was also crucial, with a loop that enabled trains to turn around and reverse direction. New trackwork was installed at a cost of $160 million [4], which included interlocking to allow the trains to switch tracks. On June 29, 2003, the Exchange Place PATH station reopened, restoring services to Newark, Hoboken, and 33rd Street. On November 23, 2003, service was restored to the World Trade Center site, with the reopening of the World Trade Center (PATH) station. [5]

In February 2006, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) established a pilot project to test airport-style security screening at the Exchange Place station. [6]

[edit] Nearby attractions

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Motorman on Trial in Fatal Tube Crash", The New York Times, December 15, 1942. 
  2. ^ a b Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "NEWS ADVISORY", PR Newswire, 1989, September 8. 
  3. ^ Ross, Bruce. "Access for the disabled; Port Authority of New York and New Jersey policy for disabled passengers", Mass Transit, 1991, May, p. Vol. 18 ; No. 4-5 ; Pg. 40. 
  4. ^ a b Weiser, Benjamin. "Closed since 9/11, a PATH station is set to reopen today", The New York Times, 2003, June 29, p. N30. 
  5. ^ PATH Service Restoration FAQ.
  6. ^ Garcia, Michelle. "Rail Passengers Screened In Test of Tighter Security", The Washington Post, 2006, February 8. 

[edit] External links