NEWS |
150-00: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE , October 27, 2000
"There's no question that PATH ridership is growing at a phenomenal rate," said PATH Director/General Manager Michael P. DePallo, "including a 10-percent boost during the first nine months of this year. Providing this extra passenger capacity will help us handle this growth, ensuring a more comfortable, reliable ride for our riders."
Under changes scheduled to take effect on November 5, two new weekday local trains will be added on the Newark-World Trade Center route between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., and three trains that formerly ran express between Newark and the World Trade Center will be changed to local trains, to capitalize on their existing unused capacity. The net effect will be to increase the frequency of trains during this period from every four minutes to every three-to-four minutes.
"We will continue to evaluate the service and make changes as necessary," Mr. DePallo added. "The idea is to maximize the use of our rail cars."
Three trains also will be added to the Journal Square-33rd Street route between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., increasing the frequency from every five-to-seven minutes to every four-to-six minutes.
During the evening rush hour, from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., a train will be added on the 33rd Street to Journal Square route, increasing the frequency from every seven minutes to every six minutes.
A train also will be added on the World Trade Center-Newark route in the evening between 6:30 and 7 p.m., extending by 15 minutes the period during which trains run at five-minute intervals.
The service changes were made to address record ridership increases on the PATH system. During the first nine months of this year, 55.1 million riders used PATH, the highest nine-month total on the rapid transit system since the Port Authority took control from the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad in 1962. On an average weekday, 252,000 people use PATH to travel between New York and New Jersey.
For further information on the schedule changes, customers can call 800 234-PATH or access PATH's Web site at www.pathrail.com.
PATH, the rapid transit operating subsidy of the Port Authority, runs 24-hour service between terminals in Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken and lower and midtown Manhattan.