PANYNJ's new capital plan calls for PATH service increases

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's (PANYNJ) board yesterday approved a record $45 billion 2026-2035 capital plan that funds one of the largest service increases in Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) history. 

The plan allocates $2.6 billion for improvements to the commuter railroad, including service increases, new track installations and fare evasion mitigation efforts, PANYNJ officials said in a press release.

For the first time in 25 years, all four PATH commuter-rail lines will operate seven days a week starting in 2026, according to the plan. Over the next two years, PATH will increase service during rush hours and weekend late nights and will reinstate direct weekend service between Journal Square in New Jersey and 33rd Street in New York; Hoboken, New Jersey, and 33rd Street; and Hoboken and the World Trade Center in New York City.

The plan also calls for PANYNJ to install new PATH tracks uptown, new fare gates and other fare evasion mitigation technology. To sustain operations and fund the major service increases called for in the capital plan, PATH fares will increase by 25 cents in summer 2026 and each January from 2027 through 2029. 

The 2026-2035 capital plan also allocates funding to complete the replacement of the Newark Liberty International Airport AirTrain. The new AirTrain will be a 2.5-mile automated shuttle that will carry passengers between airport terminals, parking lots, hotel shuttles and New Jersey Transit and Amtrak terminals at Newark Penn Station. The original AirTrain at the airport opened in 1996. Construction on the new AirTrain began in October, PANYNJ officials said.

The approved capital plan also dedicates funding for PANYNJ's $2.7 billion contribution to the Gateway Program, an ongoing multi-agency expansion and renovation of the Northeast Corridor passenger-rail line between Newark, New Jersey, and New York Penn Station.