New York City is home to the world’s most expensive train station. Almost ready for its grand opening, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in lower Manhattan is equivalent of having Grand Central, Times Square and Penn Station in one place.
Constructed at the cost of $4 billion, nearly twice the original estimate, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub is ready for the thousands of PATH commuters who will flow through the facility that connects to 11 subway lines.
Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the centerpiece of the hub is the Oculus, a cavernous hall that features white steel ribs reaching to the structure’s apex to form a skylight called the Wedge of Light. The skylight will open 22 feet on a nice spring day as well as in observance of 9/11. The expansive space sits on a heated, white Italian marble flooring.
Outside of the heart of transportation hub, steel arches jut from the center of the rib-like structure in a design that appears to be a bird being released from a child’s hands. Sized at 350 feet long, roughly the size of a soccer field, the Oculus will have 75,000 square feet of retail space. Once complete, the white-winged building will also be used as an event space, likely hosting fashion shows, concerts or food tastings.
The design of the most expensive train station is described as a “message of love to the city” inspiring optimism and exemplifying the tenacity to rebuild after the devastating terror attacks. The WTC Transportation Hub will see 250,000 people move through the facility a day.
