Port Authority Authorizes $47.6M for PATH Substation Upgrade
By Jon Whiten • Feb 23rd, 2009 • Category: Blog, News
Last week the Board of Commissioners of the the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey authorized a $47.6 million project to replace and upgrade the PATH train’s No. 7 substation near Journal Square. The substation converts high-voltage power into usable levels for the trains.
The current substation needs to be replaced because it is more than 35 years old, Port Authority spokesman Ron Marisco says. He adds that the current No. 7 station is outdoors and thus exposed to weather. The new one will be indoors “to provide extra protection to the equipment.” The new substation will also have higher-capacity equipment to meet the anticipated increased future demand for electricity with the new PATH cars.
It is not yet clear when work will begin on the new substation. The Port Authority is building it on an adjacent parcel of land that is owned by Conrail so as to not disrupt PATH operations, and the two parties are still in negotiations about how to proceed.
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Jon Whiten is the founding editor of the Jersey City Independent; he now works for a public-policy nonprofit in Trenton.
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