The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has opened the new World Trade Center Cortlandt metro station, restoring a metro stop to a resurgent area of Lower Manhattan that has once again become a major transit and commercial hub following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“The opening of WTC Cortlandt returns a metro station to a vibrant neighborhood and represents a major milestone in the recovery and growth of downtown Manhattan. WTC Cortlandt is more than a new metro station. It is symbolic of New Yorkers’ resolve in restoring and substantially improving the entire World Trade Center site,” MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota said.
The new station has been constructed with fewer columns, providing direct views into the World Trade Center Transportation Hub for more intuitive wayfinding and customer flow, particularly for mobility-impaired customers using wheelchairs or motorized scooters. The new station is fully accessible, with one elevator for access from the street to the southbound platform, and an elevator from the mezzanine to each platform. The station provides a critical accessible transfer point given its location adjacent to the fully accessible World Trade Center Transportation Hub, which offers connections to 11 metro lines via the Cortland St World Trade Center and the Fulton Center metro stations, and to Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) service.
The station includes modern amenities and security features such as Help Point kiosks on each platform and the two station mezzanines, which allow customers to get information or call for help in an emergency. The station is also air-tempered to maintain a comfortable environment and includes two new fan plants that provide air circulation and emergency ventilation. The new station’s name references its location at the center of the World Trade Center and Cortlandt Street, which existed above the station location when the line originally opened in July 1918 but was demolished during the construction of the World Trade Center in the late 1960s.
Since the 9/11 attacks, Lower Manhattan has undergone major construction to restore the area as a business district, tourist destination and transportation hub. Thanks to significant infrastructure investments such as the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the Fulton Center metro station complex and nearby office towers and shopping complexes, the entire area has undergone a transformation that is now attracting new business and residential development. The National September 11 Memorial Museum and its memorial park, which are located steps from the station, provide a place of reflection that is visited daily by thousands of tourists around the world.
The construction of the new WTC Cortlandt station began in 2015 when the MTA was given control of the site, which is located within the greater World Trade Center site overseen by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ).
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