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If you commute through Hoboken on the PATH, brace yourself. Following a July 12 derailment blamed on switch problems at Hoboken Terminal, the PATH system is limping through the week with delays, reduced service and a lot of frustrated riders. But to soften the blow, transit officials are offering a slate of alternate travel options, including some that are completely free or steeply discounted.
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From now through Friday, July 25 at 11:59pm, PATH riders can use NJ Transit rail and light rail without paying extra and hop ferries across the Hudson for just three bucks. You’ll need a valid PATH fare card or a digital cross-honoring pass from the RidePATH app to take advantage, but the trade-off might be worth it if it means avoiding the Hoboken chaos.
NJ Transit is cross-honoring PATH riders at Hoboken, Secaucus and New York Penn Station, and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail is doing the same at Exchange Place, Newport and Hoboken. Over on the water, NY Waterway is offering $3 ferry tickets during peak hours on routes between Hoboken and Brookfield Place, as well as Hoboken and the Midtown terminal at West 39th Street. Just be sure to ride during the posted time windows—this isn’t an all-day free-for-all.
Service disruptions stem from ongoing repairs to the complex rail switches that let PATH trains navigate in and out of Hoboken Terminal. Those switches were recently replaced as part of the PATH Forward rehab project but are now being blamed for a derailment that sent the last car of a 33rd Street-bound train off the tracks. The crash didn’t cause injuries, but it did cause service to grind to a halt and has forced trains to run less frequently ever since.
In the meantime, PATH is urging commuters to use the alternate routes while repairs continue. It’s not ideal, but it’s not nothing. And if you’ve ever wanted an excuse to swap your underground routine for a breezy ferry ride with skyline views, this is your moment.
Just move fast: The discounted and cross-honored rides all disappear after Friday night. By then, hopefully, the PATH will have pulled itself together. Or at least stopped derailing.