WTC Rebuilding Update

The Santiago Calatrava designed PATH station will break ground next month. The project is set to open in 2009 and can handle upwards of 250,000 people per day.

Underground passageways will link the station to the ferry terminal at the World Financial Center as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's new Fulton Street Transit Center where 14 subway lines are being connected.

In addition, the hub will be the terminus for the proposed extension of the Long Island Railroad from John F. Kennedy International Airport, another MTA project that is still in the planning stage.

"This (World Trade Center Transportation Hub) ultimately will be viewed as a historic, signature project for the Port Authority,'' said Kenneth Ringler, the agency's executive director.

"We are confident that this project will be built on schedule, providing our customers with an easy, convenient way to travel to and from the downtown area."

The new station will replace the temporary one that the Port Authority spent $566 million to build after the original was destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks. The original station and portions of its Hudson River tunnels were located in the basement of the World Trade Center.

After the attacks, Port Authority contractors worked around the clock for two years to restore PATH service to the World Trade Center.

About 41,000 people use the World Trade Center PATH line today. The Port Authority estimates ridership will be 80,000 in 2025.

Initial work will include the installation of a temporary track to the west of the present station so that construction can be staged without interrupting PATH service.

The Federal Transit Administration signed off on the project's environmental review last month, allowing the Port Authority to begin construction on schedule. The federal agency also awarded $699 million in grants for infrastructure work at the site.

The project is expected to cost $2.2 billion, most of which will be picked up by the federal government. The station will be the first permanent structure to be built on the site to replace the tower complex destroyed by the 9/11 terrorists.