Subway Tunnel 'Long - Term Loss'

By Chau Lam | STAFF WRITER

September 20, 2001

The president of the New York City transit system said yesterday that restoring subway services to the area south of the World Trade Center on the 1 and 9 lines anytime soon is highly unlikely and that repairs will be costly.

Larry Reuter and the city's engineers, surveying damage yesterday by walking along the underground tracks from Rector Street station to Cortlandt Street station, found a beam that pierced the street had made it all the way into the tunnel, said his spokesman, Albert O'Leary.

"That's a long-term loss right now," O'Leary said. "It's going to cost lots and lots of dollars."

Transit officials estimate that of the 4.5 million daily riders citywide, about 45,000 used the three stations on the 1 and 9 lines south of Chambers Street.

In the meantime, there was a glimmer of good news for some commuters as city officials reopened the Brooklyn Bridge, which was closed to cars and trucks immediately after the World Trade Center attacks.

With relatively minor changes, the current subway service will remain in effect until rescue workers finish clearing debris from the World Trade Center, and it's not certain when that will be, O'Leary said.

Another inspection found little damage to the stretch of the tunnel from the City Hall station to the Cortlandt Street station on the N and the R lines, O'Leary said. Stairwells at these stations are filled with debris and a coat of dirt covers the walls and platforms, but O'Leary said those problems can be fixed in a relatively short time.

"That tunnel appears to be in very good shape," O'Leary said.

But engineers are conducting tests to determine whether the ceiling is structurally sound before a complete assessment can be made.

Riders who usually take the subway or the PATH trains directly to the World Trade Center have found alternative routes. With the exception of several commuters from New Jersey, most of the people who travel from the five boroughs and Long Island yesterday said they experienced minor delays.

Consuela Howard, 28, an office administrator for a law firm, said it used to take her 20 minutes to travel from the Grove Street station in Jersey City on the PATH train directly to the World Trade Center. Her trip to work now takes an hour and forty minutes, and it's costing her $15 more a week, because she has to travel to another midtown PATH station and then pay to take the subway to Lower Manhattan.

"I am getting an hour with my children now, rather than the three to four hours I used to get with them," she said yesterday as she took a break from work. "It's an inconvenience, but I am happy just to be here."