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Exchange
Place PATH station to reopen June 29
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Donald
M. Kelly Reporter staff writer Date: June
15, 2003 |
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WIRED
IN - PATH workers prepare to move cable down one
of the train tubes in the newly refurbished
Exchange Place PATH terminal.
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Wall
posters advertising the 2001 cable miniseries "Band
of Brothers" are the only reminders of the old
Exchange Place PATH station platforms.
"We just got the new frames in for the walls, so
we'll replace them soon, too," said Mark
Pagliettini, program manager for the PATH downtown
restoration program. Pagliettini oversees the
refurbishing of the Exchange Place PATH station in
Jersey City, which is set to resume operation on
midnight, June 29.
The Exchange Place PATH station was closed after the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center,
which destroyed the WTC PATH station. Pagliettini said
Exchange Place received a great deal of water damage as
a result of the attacks and work has been on going since
then to restore service.
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 According
to PATH spokesman Steve Coleman, the first train will
move through the newly opened station at midnight.
"Earlier in the day, we will have a grand opening
ceremony," Coleman added. As of Wednesday, the time
of the ceremony had not been set.
Before 9/11, the PATH trains passed through the Exchange
Place location on the way to lower Manhattan and Journal
Square and Newark.
"At the World Trade Center terminal, we were able
to turn trains around and send them back to either
Newark or Hoboken," Coleman explained.
With the loss of the lower Manhattan station, turning
the PATH trains around became nearly impossible.
"Without a place to turn the trains around, we
would have to back the trains out on the same tracks
they came in on," said Pagliettini.
To facilitate the easier redeployment of PATH trains, a
pre-existing, 400-foot long dead-end tunnel was raised
to fit other main tunnels which were on a grade. This
created what Pagliettini called "cross tunnel
section" linking the previously dead end tunnel to
two of the main tunnels, allowing trains to turn around
instead of having to back out.
Coleman said the temporary PATH station for lower
Manhattan will open in November of this year in the same
location as the old. The previous station was located
beneath the World Trade Center.
Improvements
Among the improvements made at Exchange Place will be
the expanded platforms. Coleman said the newly
constructed platforms will be able to handle up to 10
cars per train. At present, Coleman said, there are
eight cars per PATH train.
"In the eastbound tunnel of the pre-9/11 station,
there was only room on the platform for a seven-car
train," said Pagliettini. "People in the last
car had to walk forward to exit the train when it pulled
in."
Along with the new passenger platforms, Pagliettini
noted a number of modifications at the Exchange Place
terminal.
"Everything except the iron bulwark of the tunnels
is new," stated Pagliettini. "New tracks have
been laid down, along with wiring, signal systems and
cement arch supports for the connected tunnels."
The operations of the Exchange Place terminal will now
be controlled by a new microprocessor system, which will
control the signal system for the reopened terminal and
will eventually operate the WTC station when it comes on
line.
James Reilly, the chief supervisor of the signal
construction division for PATH, said that the
microprocessor took a much smaller space than the relay
system, which operates the rest of the PATH system. The
relay system controls all facets of train motion in the
PATH system. According to Reilly, the 2,200 wire system
is substantially smaller and more streamlined than the
relay system, which makes repairs easier.
"If a board goes down and affects the system, you
replace the board," said Reilly. "Replacing a
circuitboard takes 15 seconds. Then you can examine the
board and fix what went wrong."
With the relay system, PATH workers would have to on the
relays at their different locations at different points
in the PATH system.
"If we used the relay system, we'd need a much
bigger room than we have the microprocessor in,"
said Reilly, adding the Exchange Place station would
probably not be open for the end of this month.
Commuters happy
Most commuters waiting at the ferry station near
Exchange Place were glad the PATH station was returning.
Rahul Talwar, 28, recently moved to the Exchange Place
area to make his commute to work in lower Manhattan
easier.
"I was living near Journal Square, so I had to take
the PATH to the ferry," said Talwar. "Now I
can just walk onto the PATH."
William Morton, another commuter to New York City and a
downtown Jersey City resident, said he had used the
Exchange Place station in the past and would when it
opens.
"It's just the way I got used to going across the
river," Morton said.
For information on PATH train schedules, call (800)
234-7284.
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| ©The
Jersey City Reporter 2003 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8310336&BRD=1293&PAG=461&dept_id=141721&rfi=6 |
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