World Trade Center is a terminal station on the PATH system. It is located in the World Trade Center complex, within the Financial District neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is served by the Newark–World Trade Center line at all times, as well as by the Hoboken–World Trade Center line on weekdays, and is the eastern terminus of both.
The World Trade Center station is located on the site of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M)’s Hudson Terminal, which opened on July 19, 1909. In 1961, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey bought the bankrupt H&M system, rebranded it as PATH, and redeveloped Hudson Terminal as part of the World Trade Center. As part of the construction of the World Trade Center, Hudson Terminal was torn down, rebuilt as World Trade Center, and re-opened on July 6, 1971. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, a temporary station opened in 2003 while the World Trade Center complex was being rebuilt. Work on a permanent station building commenced in 2008. The main station house, the Oculus, opened on March 3, 2016, and the terminal was renamed the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, or World Trade Center for short.
The World Trade Center station has five tracks and four platforms in the middle of a turning loop. Trains from New Jersey use the loop to turn around and head back to New Jersey. It is four floors below ground level.
The $4 billion Oculus station house consists of white ribs that interlock high above the ground. It was designed to connect the various modes of transportation in Lower Manhattan, from the Fulton Center in the east to the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal in the west. The hub contains connections to various New York City Subway stations, including Cortlandt Street on the N, R, and W trains; World Trade Center on the 2, 3, A, C, and E trains; and a future connection to Cortlandt Street on the 1 train. The Westfield World Trade Center mall is also within the Oculus building. The new station has received mixed reviews: although the hub has been praised for its design, it has also been criticized for its high costs and extended delays.