NORTH JERSEY — After terrorists attacked the World Trade Center 25 years ago, a PATH train route from New Jersey to the Twin Towers was canceled — and remained defunct for 25 years.
This Sunday, it's coming back.
Hoboken's direct weekend service to the World Trade Center was eliminated after the attacks, in which 2,750 people died, more than a quarter of those from New Jersey.
Weekday PATH service from Hoboken to lower Manhattan eventually returned, but weekend service was not restored.
Until this weekend.
A Port Authority spokesperson told Patch on Thursday that the weekend route is only coming back — along with an increase in the frequency of other weekend rides — thanks to a multimilliondollar upgrade.
"Restoring direct weekend service was made possible by the completion of PATH Forward, an unprecedented $430 million two-year investment in rail infrastructure in New Jersey," said spokesperson Seth Stein on Thursday.
The PATH has been making upgrades and increasing routes over the last year.
More Changes
The weekend routes from both Journal Square and Hoboken to 33rd Street will now run every 10 minutes on weekends, and the restored Hoboken-to-World Trade Center route will run every 20 minutes, the agency said.
"Additional enhancements will increase service frequency during rush hours and late nights," the agency said. "Friday night service will operate every 20 minutes until 2 a.m., consistent with Saturday night service levels."
Sunday will be the first time since 2001 that all of the PATH routes operate seven days a week, Stein said.
The frequency of some of the weekday trains already increased this past March.
The Journal Square to 33rd Street line, which runs through Hoboken, now runs every 10 minutes instead of 20 minutes between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. And weekday morning rush hour trains between Hoboken and the World Trade Center now arrive every six minutes instead of every eight.
Stein said Thursday that the recent changes were "made a reality by increased operational funding following our December board meeting. We are excited to expand service to meet surging ridership on the weekends."
The full list of recent changes is here.
Running Since 1907
Most of PATH's stations are in Hudson County and Manhattan, with one stop in Newark.
The trains stop in Newark, Harrison, Jersey City (Grove Street, Exchange Place, Journal Square, Newport) and Hoboken. In New York City, the trains stop at Christopher Street, 9th, 14th, 23rd, and 33rd street.
PATH trains began running in 1907 as the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, then was called the H&M Hudson Tubes.
Ridership declined after the construction of the Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, and the George Washington Bridge between the 1920s and 1940s, says the Port Authority, and H&M went bankrupt.
The Port Authority bought the "Tubes" as well as the rights to build on the land which included the H&M terminal in lower Manhattan. It was there that they constructed the World Trade Center.
Read more about a recent fare increase and other changes here.
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