The Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern United States. It serves the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The PATH is operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Trains run around the clock year-round; four routes serving 13 stations operate daily, while two routes operate during late nights. The PATH crosses the Hudson River through cast iron tunnels that rest on a bed of silt on the river bottom. It operates as a deep-level subway in Manhattan and the Jersey City and Hoboken riverfronts; from Grove Street in Jersey City to Newark, trains run in open cuts, at grade level, and on elevated track. In , the system saw rides, or about per weekday in , making it the fifth-busiest rapid transit system in the United States.
The routes of the PATH system were originally operated by the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M), built to link New Jersey's Hudson Waterfront with New York City. The system began operations in 1908 and was fully completed in 1911. Three stations have since closed; two others were relocated after a re-alignment of the western terminus. From the 1920s, the rise of automobile travel and the concurrent construction of bridges and tunnels across the river sent the H&M into a financial decline during the Great Depression, from which it never recovered, and it was forced into bankruptcy in 1954. As part of the deal that cleared the way for the construction of the original World Trade Center, the Port Authority bought the H&M out of receivership in 1962 and renamed it PATH. In the 2000s and 2010s, the system suffered longstanding interruptions from disasters that affected the New York metropolitan area, most notably the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Sandy. Both private and public stakeholders have proposed expanding PATH service in New Jersey, though none have been funded .
Although PATH has operated as a rapid transit system since 1966, it is legally a commuter railroad under the jurisdiction of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Its right-of-way between Jersey City and Newark is located in close proximity to Conrail, NJ Transit, and Amtrak trackage, and it shares the Dock Bridge with intercity and commuter trains. All PATH train operators must therefore be licensed railroad engineers, trains must have conductors on board, and extra inspections are required. Since 2011, PATH has used one class of rolling stock, the PA5.
History
Hudson & Manhattan Railroad The PATH system pre-dates the New York City Subway's first underground line, operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. The Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M) was planned in 1874, but it was not possible at that time to safely tunnel under the Hudson River. Construction began on the existing tunnels in 1890, but soon stopped when funding ran out. It resumed in 1900 under the direction of William Gibbs McAdoo, an ambitious young lawyer who had moved to New York from Chattanooga, Tennessee, and later became president of the H&M. The railroad became so closely associated with McAdoo that, in its early years, its lines were called the McAdoo Tubes or McAdoo Tunnels.
Construction
Construction started on the first tunnel, now called the Uptown Hudson Tubes, in 1873. Chief engineer Dewitt Haskin built the tunnel by using compressed air to open a space in the mud and then lining it with brick. The railroad got from Jersey City this way until a lawsuit stopped work; accidents, including a particularly serious one in 1880 that killed 20 workers, caused additional delays. The project was abandoned in 1883 due to a lack of funds. An effort by a British company, between 1888 and 1892, also failed.
When the New York and New Jersey Railroad Company resumed construction on the uptown tubes in 1902, its chief engineer, Charles M. Jacobs, used a different method. He had workers push a tunnelling shield through the mud and then place tubular cast iron plating around the tube. The northern tube of the uptown tunnel was completed this way shortly after work resumed and the southern tube was built the same way. The uptown tubes were completed in 1906.
By the end of 1904, the New York City Board of Rapid Transit Commissioners had given the company permission to build a new subway line through Midtown Manhattan to connect with the Uptown Hudson Tubes, along with 26 years of exclusive rights to the line. The Midtown Manhattan line would travel eastward under Christopher Street before turning northeastward under Sixth Avenue, then continue underneath Sixth Avenue to a terminus at 33rd Street.
In January 1905, the Hudson Companies, with $21 million in capital ($ in ), were incorporated to complete the Uptown Hudson Tubes and build the Sixth Avenue line, as well as construct a second pair of tunnels, the current Downtown Hudson Tubes. The H&M was incorporated in December 1906 to operate a passenger railroad system between New York and New Jersey via the Uptown and Downtown Tubes.
The current Downtown Hudson Tubes were built about south of the first one. Three years of construction using the tubular cast iron method finished in 1909. The uptown and downtown tunnels had two tubes, each with a single unidirectional track. The eastern sections of the tunnels, in Manhattan, were built with the cut and cover method.
Opening
Test runs of empty trains started in late 1907. Revenue service started between Hoboken Terminal and 19th Street at midnight on February 26, 1908, when President Theodore Roosevelt pressed a button at the White House that turned on the electric lines in the uptown tubes (the first train carrying passengers, all selected officials, had run the previous day). This became part of the current Hoboken–33rd Street line. The H&M system was powered by a 650-volt direct current third rail which, in turn, drew power from an 11,000-volt transmission system with three substations. The substations were the Jersey City Powerhouse, as well as two smaller substations at the Christopher Street and Hudson Terminal stations.
An extension of the H&M from 19th Street to 23rd Street opened in June 1908. In July 1909, service began between the Hudson Terminal in Lower Manhattan and Exchange Place in Jersey City, through the downtown tubes. The connection between Exchange Place and the junction near Hoboken Terminal opened two weeks later, forming the basic route for the Hoboken-Hudson Terminal (now Hoboken–World Trade Center) line. A new line running between 23rd Street and Hudson Terminal was created in September. Almost a year after that, the H&M was extended from Exchange Place west to Grove Street,"Subway Station Not Closed", The New York Times, August 26, 1910, p. 6. and the 23rd Street–Hudson Terminal line was rerouted to Grove Street, becoming part of the current Journal Square–33rd Street line. A fourth line, Grove Street–Hudson Terminal (now the Newark–World Trade Center line), was also created. In November 1910, the Hoboken–23rd Street and Grove Street–23rd Street lines were extended from 23rd Street to 33rd Street.
The Grove Street–Hudson Terminal line was extended west from Grove Street to Manhattan Transfer in October 1911, and then to Park Place in Newark on November 26 of that year. After completion of the uptown Manhattan extension to 33rd Street and the westward extension to the now-defunct Manhattan Transfer and Park Place Newark terminus in 1911, the H&M was complete. The final cost was estimated at $55–$60 million ($ - $ in ). A stop at Summit Avenue (now Journal Square), located between Grove Street and Manhattan Transfer, opened in April 1912 as an infill station on the Newark-Hudson Terminal line, though only one platform was in use at the time. The station was completed by February 1913, allowing service from 33rd Street to terminate there. The last station, at Harrison, opened a month later.
External relations and unbuilt expansions
Originally, the Hudson Tubes were designed to link three major railroad terminals on the Hudson River in New Jersey—the Erie Railroad (Erie) and Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in Jersey City and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) in Hoboken—with New York City. While PATH still connects to train stations in Hoboken and Newark, the Erie's Pavonia Terminal at what is now Newport and the PRR terminal at Exchange Place station have been closed and demolished. There were early negotiations for New York Penn Station to also be shared by the two railroads. In 1908, McAdoo proposed to build a branch of the H&M southward to the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal at Communipaw.
When the rapid transit commissioners approved construction of the H&M's Sixth Avenue line in 1904, they left open the option of digging an east-west crosstown line. The New York and New Jersey Railroad Company received perpetual rights to dig under Christopher and Ninth Streets eastward to either Second Avenue or Astor Place. The project was started but soon abandoned; about of the tube that was dug still exists.
In February 1909 the H&M announced plans to extend its Uptown Tubes northeast to Grand Central Terminal, located at Park Avenue and 42nd Street. The openings of the 28th and 33rd Street stations were delayed because of planning for the Grand Central extension. The New York Times speculated that the downtown tunnels would see more passenger use than the uptown tunnels because they better served the city's financial district.
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), a competitor to the H&M, proposed to connect its Lexington Avenue line to the H&M at Grand Central, Astor Place, and Fulton Street–Hudson Terminal once the planned system was complete. The H&M terminus at Grand Central was supposed to be located directly below the IRT's 42nd Street line but above the IRT's Steinway Tunnel to Queens. However, the IRT constructed an unauthorized ventilation shaft between its two levels in an effort to force the H&M to build its station very deeply, making it less accessible. As an alternative, it was proposed to connect the Uptown Tubes to the Steinway Tunnel. A franchise to extend the Uptown Tubes to Grand Central was awarded in June 1909.
By 1914, the H&M had not yet started construction of the Grand Central extension, and requested a delay. Six years later, the H&M had submitted 17 applications for delays; in all of them, the railroad said it was not the best time for construction. The Rapid Transit Commissioners declined the last one, effectively ending the H&M's rights to a Grand Central extension.
In September 1910, McAdoo proposed another expansion, consisting of a second north-south line through midtown. It would run from Hudson Terminal to 33rd Street and Sixth Avenue, underneath Herald Square and near the H&M's existing 33rd Street station. The new line would run mainly under Broadway, with a small section of the line in the south under Church Street. Under McAdoo's plan, the city could take ownership of this line within 25 years of completion.
That November, McAdoo also proposed that the two-track Broadway line be tied into the IRT's original subway line in Lower Manhattan. The Broadway line, going southbound, would merge with the local tracks of the IRT's Lexington Avenue line in the southbound direction at 10th Street. A spur off the Lexington Avenue line in Lower Manhattan, in the back of Trinity Church, would split eastward under Wall Street, cross the East River to Brooklyn, then head down Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, with another spur underneath Lafayette Avenue. McAdoo wanted not only to operate what was then called the "Triborough System", but also the chance to bid on the Fourth Avenue line in the future. The franchise for the Broadway line was ultimately awarded to the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) in 1913, as part of the Dual Contracts.