PATH WILL RUN EXTRA TRAINS ON JOURNAL SQUARE TO 33RD STREET VIA HOBOKEN LINE OVER NEXT THREE WEEKENDS WHILE WORLD TRADE CENTER AND EXCHANGE PLACE STATIONS ARE CLOSED TO ALLOW FOR POST-SANDY RECOVERY WORK Work is essential to PATH’s recovery and restoration efforts The PATH rail system’s ongoing post-Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts will continue over the next three weekends as staff works to continue removing corrosive salt from rails, equipment and tunnels to ensure the long-term viability and reliability of the entire 43-mile system. The work, the start of a $50 million authorization approved last month by the Port Authority’s Board of Commissioners, will necessitate suspension of weekend PATH service at the World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations beginning late Friday nights through the weekends of Nov. 9-10, Nov. 16-17 and Nov. 23-24, as outlined below. To minimize passenger inconvenience, additional trains will run on the JSQ to 33rd (via Hoboken) line while the WTC and Exchange Place stations are closed. Superstorm Sandy’s unprecedented flooding of PATH tunnels and infrastructure left behind a salt residue that could not entirely be cleaned during the efforts to restore service in the months after the storm. To remedy this issue, the World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations will be closed for three weekends to enable workers to power wash the tunnels between the stations to remove corrosive salt deposits. Restoration work to repair and replace compromised power and communication cables, rails, and trackside equipment also will occur on these weekends. To avoid interference with the upcoming holiday season, PATH will not have further weekend closures this year, but will need to conduct work on select weekends in 2014. The agency will notify passengers when the 2014 schedule is determined. NOVEMBER 2013 CLOSURES Friday nights, around-the-clock, until early Monday mornings November 8 – November 10 | November 15 – November 17 | November 22 – November 24 Impacts to World Trade Center to Newark (WTC-NWK) and NWK-WTC service on 11/8, 11/15, and 11/22 [Friday nights] • The last departure from WTC is 11:55 p.m., arriving at NWK at 12:17 a.m. • The last departure from NWK is 11:20 p.m., arriving at WTC at 11:42 p.m. There are no impacts to WTC-Hoboken (HOB) and HOB-WTC service on 11/8, 11/15, and 11/22 [Friday nights] • The last departure from WTC is 10:56 p.m., arriving at HOB at 11:06 p.m. • The last departure from HOB is 11:11 p.m., arriving at WTC at 11:21 p.m. The World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations will be reopened each Monday at approximately 4:45 a.m. The first departing train out of NWK to WTC will be at 4:35 a.m. and the WTC to NWK train will be at 5:10 a.m. Passengers traveling to Lower Manhattan on these weekends should use the Journal Square (JSQ)-33rd (via HOB) line and connect to New York City (NYC) Transit subways or buses in Manhattan. (A separate fare payment is required.) Passengers traveling to Grove Street from NWK or Harrison should transfer at JSQ for JSQ-33rd (via HOB) line. The West Concourse at WTC, providing an underground connection to Brookfield Place, will remain open and accessible during these weekend outages. “Your safety and the long-term viability of the PATH system remains our highest priority,” said Stephen Kingsberry, PATH’s director and general manager. “We appreciate your understanding while this work is under way.” Previous restoration work included replacement of ruined cables, switches and the flushing of the tunnels, tracks and equipment. Nevertheless, PATH has seen an uptick in Sandy-related maintenance and service issues this year, due to the corrosive effects of lingering salt residue left behind from the storm. New efforts will include intensive power washing with solvents throughout the system, including the cast iron rings that comprise the original PATH tubes, along with replacement of damaged equipment. Up to 90 percent of the costs are expected to be reimbursed from $1.3 billion in recovery funding already awarded to PATH by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Improved measures to help prevent damage from future storms include the use of metal panels at PATH stations and the installation of permanent and mobile pumps, as well as moving electrical and mechanical equipment to higher ground where feasible. Customers are encouraged to subscribe to PATHAlerts to receive real-time system delay information via text or email. PATHAlerts # # #
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 16:17:31 +0000
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