PATH Expansion: Get Ready For 9-Car Trains On Newark-WTC Line

NEWARK, NJ — The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is getting ready for a major expansion on the PATH train’s Newark-World Trade Center line, officials announced Wednesday.

On Thursday, the PATH will run nine-car trains on the NWK-WTC line for the first time in its 100-year history.

The agency said it plans to gradually increase the numbers of nine-car trains on the line over the next 12 months. By the start of 2024, nearly all NWK-WTC trains that run during peak hours will be nine-cars long.

“We owe PATH customers an improved experience, and this service enhancement provides substantial and measurable increases in capacity on PATH’s most heavily traveled line,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said.

The first delivery of new rail cars to help support the nine-car program took place at Port Newark in September.

It’s all part of the Port Authority’s $1 billion plan to alleviate what a top executive previously called a plague of “excessive delays” for PATH riders. That plan calls for boosting rider capacity on several busy train lines, including a whopping 40 percent increase on the NWK-WTC line. Read More: Huge Expansion Coming For PATH: More Trains, Less Delays

Gov. Phil Murphy said the expansion will help to “connect local communities to good-paying jobs, economic opportunity and each other.”

“Just as importantly, expanding PATH service will help deliver the comfortable, safe traveling experience New Jersey residents and visitors deserve,” Murphy said.

Spanning 13 stations in New York City and New Jersey, the PATH system handled nearly 82 million commuter trips in 2019, a record number of passengers in one year, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PATH is rebuilding its ridership steadily, and expects to achieve at least 60 percent of its overall average daily ridership by the end of 2023, officials said. Read More: Port Authority Expects Full Recovery From COVID By 2024, Audit Says

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