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THE MOST EXPENSIVE train station in the world will open today on the site of New York’s World Trade Center.
Twelve years in the making, there will be no official ceremony to mark the afternoon opening to rail commuters of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub next to the site of the Twin Towers.
The centre connects the PATH commuter rail to New Jersey with New York subway lines, provides indoor pedestrian access to the Trade Center towers and will also house an enormous shopping and restaurant plaza.
The building, designed by Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava and called Oculus, is a giant oval made up of steel ribs and glass laid out in elliptical shape, reaching for the sky like wings of a bird.
The space measures 350 feet (107 metres) long by 115 feet (35 metres) at its widest point, according to Calatrava’s website.
Today is only a partial opening and the shops are slated to open in August.
In the 12 years since the project was unveiled, it has been heavily criticised – for its appearance but also for spiralling so drastically off budget and closing seven years behind schedule.
Initially budgeted at $2 billion, it has spiraled to $3.85 billion according to a spokesperson in Calatrava’s office, which would make it the most expensive station in the world.
In contrast, the temporary station which was built straight after the September 11, 2001 attacks cost just $323 million.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey admitted in a report published in 2008 that the original cost estimate was “too low to begin with” but stressed the advantages it would afford the city.
It said that when completed, the transit hub will serve 250,000 people and more than 200,000 commuters each day, making it the third-largest transportation centre in the city.
Jaysus, don’t let the LUAS lads see that!
SIPTU are probably balloting the Subway drivers about industrial action, they dont think these lads should be stopping in this new station.
Lol larry
The New York rail system is a dream to use and cheap as chips.. You can get from one end of Manhattan to the other for $2.75.. You literally don’t need to use cabs or cars over there. When you land in JFK, grab yourself a subway map and you’ll save a fortune on getting around..
Ah it’s painful getting it from jfk – unless you have time to waste getting the train across Brooklyn to Manhattan with countless (3) changes is a bad choice
I actually found the NY system old and rickety and badly planned compared to European systems. The major cities of Germany have truly perfect systems.
I’ve always got the Airtrain and then either the Subway or Long Island Railroad from JFK to Manhatten. Don’t waste money on expensive cabs.
What a Calatrava project when over budget?? That´s not a surprise
Beautiful structure all the same. An attraction by itself. Will definitely be on my to see list next time I’m in ny
Kinda looks like Lyon???? One trick pony Calatrava :-D
I take the World Trade Center path train a fair bit and it is stunning down there. Underground it’s kind of like walking through a giant whales rib cage. The easy access to battery park and and a lot of the big media agencies are based in the new trade center will make it a vibrant place again. Grand central is beautiful but completely impractical for the amount of people who travel through it each day and Penn station is a confusing Kip !!! The real problem with this is the 2 billion extra it cost which could have been used for a new tunnel from New Jersey which is desperately needed
Kind of reminds me of the old trade center in a way down there….the way the steel is structured. Fantastic piece of infrastructure that will become known the world over as a famous landmark. We will see it used as a backdrop in many movies in the future….like Grand Central.
As for Penn Station the less said the better.
One of walls are from the existing towers beside Brookfield place.
Isn’t it supposed to represent the twisted burning metal skeleton of the first tower to collapse! I think he’s done a very good job!
Why call it Oculus then? Tartarus Oculus, it is underground lol.
It looks more like skeletal remains than the wings of a bird.
he’s right, its an Angel!
Bones of a fish…
It’s amazing what beautiful projects can be completed. ..elsewhere. …unlike our unimaginative block like structures
London Bridge station redevelopment £6.5 billion/ $9.1 billion.
No money for pubic health, education etc but no end to the money spent on construction contracts!! ;)
The £6.5 billion is for the entire Thameslink programme, i.e. redevelopments of London Bridge, Blackfriars and St Pancras, as well as the construction of the Canal Tunnels and the various platforms that needed lengthening, not to mention the new trains themselves.
“closing seven years behind schedule”? I thought it just opened.
America never does anything small, do they?
Well you can’t do small in New York City….1/4 million people are going to pass through that station every day.
Indeed. It is an impressive structure for sure.
We spend more than that every year on Irish.
Breakfasts?
Great free advertising for Oculus.. Didn’t even have to pay for naming rights.
Was in it last year and it looked amazing.
Ye’ve all been duped.
It’s a trap for the next King Kong attack.
Jaysus. Is it supposed to look like the path of a swooping plane?
To put the cost of this project in context with our own “value for mone” infrastructure spending, the conference centre cost us approx €760,000,000. So let’s keep our traps shut on this story.
“It provides access to the World Trade towerS”?! Awkward.
Alan – there are 5 towers that make up the World Trade Center. All are between 50 and 104 stories tall.
How many homeless would that have kept alive???
As in building a cheaper simple station and used the rest for the homeless…
We spent 3 quarters of a BILLION euro on the conference centre, so why is no one talking about our own mis-managed infrastructure spending? And do you think it will change with a new government? No it won’t, especially if they engage in PPP projects again.
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