Post Description

Due to its geographical location New York had no direct connection from and to the west until 1910. The Hudson River was an unobtainable obstacle. All great train companies built their stations on the banks of the Hudson River in New Jersey. The passenger service between Jersey City and New York was operated only with ferries across the river.
 
To connect both cities, construction of a tunnel from the jersey side began as early as 1874. The tunnel was meant to be for steam driven trains.
 
The ambitious project to tunnel the Hudson River found a sudden end on the 21. July 1888 when water burst through.
 
Rising passenger numbers though encouraged a new approach and in the same year construction started again. Money problems by the foreign investors stopped the project again.
 
In 1901 a third approach began. Now the route was planned to be electrified and was extended from the original "Uptown Tunnel" (todays connection from New Jersey - 33rd Street), to 3 additional routes. A southern tunnel was planned (Exchange Place), a connection below all stations of Jersey city and Hoboken (Hoboken - Exchange Place) as well as an above ground extension to Newark. Building began in 1903 and was at last finished. Service began on the18. July 1908 through the northern tunnel. In 1909 a second tunnel pairing as well as the connection between Hoboken and Exchange Place was inaugurated. 1911 saw the beginning of sevice on all extensions.
 
At this time the rout was hailed as a masterpice of engineering and the first mass public transport which went underneat a river.
 
On the 11. September 2001 the World Trade center was destroyed. Exchange Place had to be closed until June 2003 even though it was only affected by water leaks at the eastern end of the station. During its closure the complete station was rebuilt and modernized.
 
With the opening of the temporary "World Trade Center Station" in November 2003 the "Downtown Tunnel" were taken into service again.