Newport station (PATH)

Pavonia/Newport is a PATH station located on Pavonia Avenue at the corner of Washington Boulevard in Jersey City, New Jersey. Opened on August 2, 1909 as the Erie station (and later renamed to Pavonia, until its present name was given in 1988), Pavonia/Newport has undergone a number of transformations since its opening nearly a century ago. The station was originally constructed to connect to the Erie Railroad Terminal that once stood above the station. (The capitals of the station's columns still display the "E" of the Erie Railroad, to this day.) During this period, the station was so busy that a second platform needed to be added to manage the flow of passengers from the over 30 passenger trains that ran in and out of the station hourly.

The station was not closely integrated into the Erie Railroad Terminal, and a lengthy walk through underground tunnels was necessary in order to connect to the passenger trains above-ground. In response to this, the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad installed a 100-foot long moving passageway known as "the Travelator". It was the first such moving walkway built in the United States. (The travelator has long since been removed.)

In 1956, the Erie Railroad consolidated their operations with the Lackawanna Railroad and moved to their terminal in Hoboken. A few years later, the small New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad ceased their operations at the Erie Terminal, which was torn down soon afterwards. Ridership at the Erie tube station declined sharply. For nearly 30 years, the station served only as a transfer station from one PATH line to another.

However, in the early- to mid-1990s, the once-vacant railyards at Pavonia were replaced with high-density residential, office, and retail on the west bank of the Hudson River, which would later become known as Newport. This precipitated the re-opening of the side platform, which had been closed since the 1960s, in 2002.

During the daytime and evening hours, trains bound for Hoboken and 33rd Street open to the side platform. The center platform is used for trains bound for Exchange Place and Journal Square, and for all trains during the overnight hours.