9/11-Damaged Rail Is Reborn Temporarily Rebuilt line and stations between New Jersey and World Trade Center signal area’s rebirth
The Nov. 23 resumption of train service from New Jersey into New York Citys former World Trade Center site after a $566-million overhaul of stations and track damaged on Sept. 11, 2001, marks a crucial milestone in lower Manhattans renaissance. The projects centerpiece is a $323-million "temporary" station for thePort Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) line in New York City that will serve as a no-frills stand-in for the $2-billion downtown transportation megacenter to come by the end of the decade.
The station opened a month early and debuted five months after the reopening of the Exchange Place station across the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. That station underwent $137 million of work, including the 110-ft extension of platforms to accommodate 10-car trains. That modification was considered more than 20 years ago but ruled out because of the cost and required service lapse, say officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs PATH. The reconstruction was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Port Authority and insurance.