Newark Airport will soon have a direct rail link with lower Manhattan under a new plan by the Port Authority.
The $1.5 billion project would connect PATH from the World Trade Center to the Air Train at the Newark Airport station, which is currently served only by NJ Transit.
The plan, which follows a study that began in 2012, is to extend the PATH line about two miles beyond the terminus at Newark Penn Station.
It is expected to cut city residents’ travel time to Newark Airport significantly, and give tourists an easy link to the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum.
The PA’s board of directors will vote on the capital plan Feb. 19, after receiving feedback from the public on its Web site.
The start and end date of the project have not been selected yet, and the project is still in the planning process, according to an agency spokesman.
It is part of the PA’s $27.6 billion, 10-year capital plan, and all of its projects have to be done by 2023.
The capital plan also includes $3.6 billion to renovate La Guardia Airport. A new, 35-gate terminal will replace one that dates back to 1964.
Newark Airport will also get $2 billion for redevelopment.
The money will be used for a new terminal, airfield work space, and a 3,000-vehicle parking garage.
The plan also includes $1 billion for Hurricane Sandy repairs and to make the PA’s infrastructure more storm-proof.
The PATH system was hit particularly hard by Sandy.
Manhattan residents were thrilled with the prospect of a direct rail link to Newark Airport.
Yanni Kotsonis, a 51-year-old West Village man, said he would start flying out of Newark.
“I think it is great. The city needs to invest more in mass transit,” he said.
Erick Growcock, 37, of the West Village, said, “That would be handy because I actually live above a PATH train, so that would be nice. “We need a better route to the airport as it is.”
Krista Jansen, 29, said she currently travels to Newark through Penn Station, and would rather go from the World Trade Center stop.
“This would make it much easier,” she said.
The Global Gateway Alliance, an advocacy group for the metro region’s airport that has been critical of the PA, praised the plan.
“Extending PATH from the World Trade Center stop directly to Newark Airport is affordable,” said its board of directors in a statement.
“It is doable, requiring a less than two-mile track extension from Newark Penn Station, rather than having to dig a new tunnel or build flyovers.”