Since then there has been a constant increase in the number of passengers, reaching 60,000,000 passengers a year in 1995 and over 67,000,000 in 1999, 38,000,000 of whom entered the system from New Jersey stations and 29,400,000 from New York stations.

The number of passengers for 2000 rose to  72,000,000 and the passengers count increased to 249,000 per workday. For 2002, even after the Islamic terrorist attacks temporarily closed the downtown line, there were 82,000,000 individual passenger trips, almost 280,000 every workday. By early 2006 system ridership on the weekends was 93,000 on Saturdays and 62,000 on Sundays.In fact, by the late 1990s the number of passengers was high enough to resurrect trans-Hudson ferry service to handle the overflow.  

The damage wrought upon the system by the Islamic terrorist attacks on America placed a caesura in passenger growth; statistics for the end of 2004 when the downtown line will have been running for a year will give a clearer picture of the long range trend of the passengers carried.

The economic health of the H&M paralleled that of the other U.S. railroads. Through the 1920s, before motor vehicle and, later air, transportation got established, the Tubes did well financially. But by the 1930s it began a steady decline. 

When the Port Authority took over the railroad, it issued a press release  on the H&M's financial history claiming that in 54 years of operation the H&M had paid interest on its debt in only 13 years; had paid preferred dividends in 10 years;  had paid common dividends in 7 years and had been technically insolvent since the 1930s before becoming officially insolvent in 1954 . But since the PA had had a very negative outlook on taking over the Tubes - which was always referred to in PA press releases as a "bankrupt railroad" - it is unclear as to whether these figures tell only part of the H&M's financial story.

For most of the Tubes' history the fares were paid by coin. But on June 26, 1944 the H & M began the use of tokens instead of cash, although  cash fares and tickets were still used on the joint PRR portion between Journal Square and Newark. Again towards the beginning of the Port Authority period, tokens were used to avoid passengers having to deposit more than one coin.  

This H&M token reads "One Fare H&M RR". For much of the period of the use of this token (the late 1950s, early 1960s) the token represented 15¢. [Image from the Joseph Korner Collection; and here are selections from George Cuhaj's collection of H&M tokens via NYCSubway.]    

In the period between the World Wars there were two interstate fares. For example in 1927 the fare from New Jersey to the Uptown stations was 10¢, while the fare between New Jersey and the Downtown station was 6¢. [There was always an additional fee for the joint service westwards from Journal Square - see section 3 Operating History.]

During the period of H&M operations there was a separate reduced intrastate fare for travel between New Jersey stations, excluding Newark and Harrison. Since the mechanical turnstiles could handle only one fare, passengers between New Jersey stations obtained a refund coupon from the ticket booth upon entering and would then redeem that coupon at the ticket booth of the exit station.

Today no matter what the time of day or distance travelled, the fare is a flat $1.50 payable as coin or bill in cash or with a "QuickCard". Commuters can make use of the Quick Card to get 40 rides for $1.20 apiece or an 11 trip version of the Quick Card for $1.36 a ride. Senior citizen fare, with a special identification issued by PATH, is $1. In early 2002 plans were being made for the design and installation of an integrated fare payment system that accepted both Smart Cards, which can be used on the commuter railroads, and MetroCards, which can be used on the New York City subway and bus system. The temporary station at the World trade center is the first one to accept both cards.

Here is a graphic depicting some changes in the Tubes' fare over the last century and expressing those fares in today's dollars.

 

Hudson Tubes / PATH Train fares
In some periods there were different fares for the Uptown and Downtown lines. Well into the PA takeover, there was always a separate fare for the join H&M / PRR Newark service running westwards from Journal Square (which apparently ended in 1967).  This incomplete table shows some of the fare changes for the basic Tubes [i.e., not the joint service] and indicates what the real cost of the fare was in 2002 dollars. Some of these calculations are based on data  from Tim Zukas and also from material supplied by  Terry  Kennedy to the 2003 Hudson Tubes exhibit at the Hoboken Historical Museum.
Year	Nominal Fare*	Fare adjusted for inflation 2007

1908	5¢	$1.02
1911	7¢	$1.43
1927 downtown	6¢	71¢
1927 uptown	10¢	$1.19
1938 July 25 downtown	8¢	$1.15
1938 July 25 uptown	10¢ [8¢ upon entering, 2¢ upon leaving]	$1.18

1944 June 26	10¢ / 9¢ [11 tokens for $1]	$1.18 / $1.06
intrastate refund coupon = 5¢**
1951 Dec 7	ICC grants a 5¢ interstate fare increase to 15¢.	$1.20
1957 September	20¢	$1.48
1958	15¢	1.08
1962	30¢ [intrastate 15¢]	$2.06
1970	intrastate increase to 30¢	$1.60
1973	50¢	$2.33
2002	$1.50	$1.73
2008	$2.00	$2.00
** The refund coupon was redeemed upon exit from a New Jersey station, if the passenger had boarded in New Jersey, or at a New York station, if the passenger had boarded in New York. The system lasted at least until the PA take over.
* Not the H&M/PRR joint service from Journal Square to Newark	Updated February 1, 2008 © B Klapouchy 2008

© B Klapouchy 1987-2008