Hoboken PATH station won't reopen for weeks

Hoboken PATH station won't reopen for weeks

Hoboken's PATH station is weeks from reopening after suffering severe flooding during Hurricane Sandy.

Officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the PATh subway that links Manhattan to communities in northern New Jersey, gave a tour of the damaged station and tracks.

"With the 10 million gallons that flooded that system, as you might imagine all of the systems there were compromised," said Steve Kingsberry, the acting director and general manager of PATH. "So we have been working to repair all of the damage that is done in those tunnels, there is significant damage."

He said crews have been "working feverishly, day and night."

The flooding damaged the turnstiles, tracks, signal system, fare card machines, elevator, staircases, electrical equipment, and more, Kingsberry said.

"The tracks under the station were flooded with eight feet of water four weeks ago," he said. "It took about a week to get all the water out, and crews are working around the clock to test switches, signals and cables."

He said the station won't reopen for a few more weeks. He also said the Port Authority would try to find ways of improving the infrastructure and equipment, which is decades old, to better withstand future storms. The station itself is about 100 years old, he said.

"We are doing everything we can to prevent and make our system stronger and better if the storm occurs again," Kingsberry said.