Exchange Place is a station on the Port Authority Trans–Hudson (PATH) rail system in the

Paulus Hook Paulus Hook is a community on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Jersey City,

Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The station is on the

Newark–World Trade Center Newark–World Trade Center is a rapid transit service operated by the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH). It is colored red on the PATH service map and trains on this service display red marker lights. This service operates from Pennsylvania S ...

line between

Newark Penn Station Pennsylvania Station (also known as Newark Penn Station) is an intermodal passenger station in Newark, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, Newark Penn Station is served by multiple rail and bus carriers, ...

and

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

all week and the

Hoboken–World Trade Center Hoboken–World Trade Center is a rapid transit service operated by the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH). It is colored green on the PATH service map and trains on this service display green marker lights. This service operates from the Hoboken ...

line during the day on weekdays to service

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...

. Exchange Place provides access to the Jersey City waterfront and a station on the

Hudson–Bergen Light Rail The Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) is a light rail system in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by New Jersey Transit (NJT) and operated by the 21st Century Rail Corporation, it connects the communities of Bayonne, Jersey Ci ...

, where connections are available to Bayonne and

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by ...

. Exchange Place station opened on July 19, 1909 as part of the original opening of the

Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owned sub ...

between the former Pennsylvania Railroad terminal at Exchange Place and

Hudson Terminal Hudson Terminal was a rapid transit station and office-tower complex in the Radio Row neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Opened during 1908 and 1909, it was composed of a terminal station for the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M), ...

. The station headhouse was rebuilt in 1989. Exchange Place station flooded after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

and was closed until June 29, 2003, when it became a temporary terminal. Service returned to World Trade Center on November 23.

History

Original station

The original Exchange Place station opened on July 19, 1909 at the western end of the

Downtown Hudson Tubes The Downtown Hudson Tubes (formerly the Cortlandt Street Tunnel) are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains under the Hudson River in the United States, between New York City to the east and Jersey City, New Jersey, to the west. The tunnel ...

adjacent to the Pennsylvania Railroad station and

ferry terminal A passenger terminal is a structure in a port which services passengers boarding and leaving water vessels such as ferries, cruise ships and ocean liners. Depending on the types of vessels serviced by the terminal, it may be named (for example) ...

. The aboveground entrance and platforms were refurbished in the late 1960s and early 1970s after the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

took over operations of the

. A derailment on April 26, 1942 at this station resulted in five deaths and over 200 injuries. In that incident, the train operator Louis Vierbucken was charged with manslaughter, as he was under the influence of liquor. Court records recount that he "began to go faster and faster, disregarding warning signals and curves" and then the train derailed at the station.

Present day

The present-day station entrance pavilion at Exchange Place was constructed at a cost of $66 million, and was dedicated on September 13, 1989. At this time, the surrounding

Paulus Hook Paulus Hook is a community on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.revitalization with new office building construction. In April 1994, a new entrance to the Exchange Place station was opened making the station ADA accessible. The new entrance was glass-enclosed and featured two elevators which led to a lower-level passageway down, from where another elevator went down the short distance to platform level. PATH exchange entrance

The Exchange Place station was closed as a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks, due to water damage. Before the attacks, the station served 16,000 passengers daily. The

station was also crucial, as that station contained a loop that enabled trains to turn around and reverse direction. New trackwork was installed at a cost of $160 million, which included an

interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and tracks are sometimes collectively re ...

to allow the trains to switch tracks, thus enabling trains to terminate at Exchange Place. While the station was closed, the eight-car-long station platforms were lengthened by two car lengths so they could accommodate 10-car trains. On June 29, 2003, the Exchange Place PATH station reopened, restoring services to Newark and Hoboken. On November 23, 2003, service was restored to the

World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...

with the reopening of the

station. In February 2006, the

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

(TSA) established a pilot project to test airport-style security screening at the Exchange Place station. In 2012, the station was inundated by of saltwater from the Hudson River, which had overflowed as a result of

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

. The PANYNJ later announced a resiliency project in which it planned to replace the glass revolving doors and windows that surround the turnstiles with a seven-foot-high concrete wall and aquarium glass several inches thick. The project would include in the installation of two

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

curtains. In June 2019, the Port Authority released the PATH Improvement Plan. As part of the plan, two additional cross-corridors will be added at Exchange Place. The construction of the cross-corridors are expected to be completed by 2022.

Station layout

The station entrance is located approximately west of the former, original station entrance. The station features three -long escalators that provide access to the platform level, located beneath street level. In 1994, three elevators installed to make the station accessible for the disabled, in accordance to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail began service in April 2000, initially providing connections to Bayonne. West of the station (railroad north), there are 5 trackways, 2 outer tracks for Hoboken, 2 inner tracks for Newark and 1 Stub End Track connecting each of the Newark Tracks. East of the station (railroad south), both lines continue into their weekday terminus. The station has two vestibules, each containing one

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

and one track for trains in a given direction. The platforms are connected through several corridors. There are

switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

es within the platform at the far western end of the station, where the HOB-WTC line's tracks diverge. As a result, only NWK-WTC trains can serve the whole platform. From January 2019 until June 2020, the Newark-World Trade Center route terminated at Exchange Place on almost all weekends through 2020 for Sandy-related repairs, except on holiday weekends. The truncation was initially expected to last through all of 2020, but ended in June 2020, six months ahead of schedule.

Nearby attractions

* Colgate Clock * Goldman Sachs Tower * Harborside Financial Center *

Liberty State Park Liberty State Park (LSP) is a park in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Upper New York Bay in Jersey City opposite Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The park opened in 1976 to coincide with bicentennial celebrations and is operated a ...

Paulus Hook Paulus Hook is a community on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, also known as the Jersey City Powerhouse in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, was built in 1908. The powerhouse made possible the subway system between New Jersey and New York ...

References

External links

PATH - Exchange Place1970s image of the former Exchange Place H&M Station with PATH Signage (Hudson Tubes Website)
{{PATH (rail system) PATH stations in New Jersey PATH stations located underground Railway stations in Hudson County, New Jersey Railway stations located underground in New Jersey Transportation in Jersey City, New Jersey 1909 establishments in New Jersey Railway stations in the United States opened in 1909