The South Ferry shuffle is back.
Subway riders will again have to hustle into the first five cars if they want to get off at the 1 line’s old South Ferry station, which will reopen today while the new station is renovated.
The old station will be ready to take riders at 5 a.m.
“It will be confusing for people not used to riding the ferry!” said Jacqueline Basulto, 18, a student from Staten Island.
It will take two or three years to repair the new station, which was nearly destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. It opened in 2009 and cost about $545 million.
The old station, which opened in 1905, may come as a shock to new riders — not only does it have space for only five cars of a 10-car train, it’s also too small to handle the 10,000 commuters who’ll use it every day.
To ease crowding, the MTA advises those entering the station to use the main entrance near the ferry terminal, and those exiting to use the stairs at the center of the platform.
“It’s not the best, but it’s a solution,” said Staten Island resident Rich Sherman, 34.
Many 1 train commuters welcomed the news; since Sandy, they’ve been forced to walk to and from the Rector Street stop, several blocks north of South Ferry.
“It’s a relief. I couldn’t wait any longer,” said Elsa Sanchez, 47, who lives on Staten Island and commutes to her job uptown at Columbia University.
Liz Taillie, 28, also a Staten Islander, said, “I’m super excited. It’s going to be good to shorten the walk.”
The MTA says it cost $2 million to restore the old South Ferry platform to service.
That includes new electrical feeds, closed-circuit TV monitors, and restoring the gap fillers — metal teeth that extend the platform to the train.
Fixing the new station will run around $600 million — more than the cost of the original project.