A ride on the 1 train down to the end of the line is a one-of-a-kind New York subway experience. To exit the train at the South Ferry station, riders must be in the first five cars of the train, where they wait for retractable floor grates to close the gap between the doors and the sharply curved platform before heading up the stairs to use the station’s single exit.

This old-fashioned experience is about to become obsolete, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority spends $450 million of the Federal Transit Administration’s post-9/11 funds to usher the original 1905 South Ferry station into the 21st century.

Work on the revamped station began in late 2004, just as the finishing touches were being put on the neighboring Whitehall Ferry Terminal. The single greatest improvement of the new station is its new platform -- a standard, 10-car platform that’s as straight as an arrow and ADA-accessible. It will connect to the R and W trains at the Whitehall subway station and lead to three separate street exits: one near Whitehall, one at State Street, and one at the edge of Battery Park.

The first phase of construction is taking place in Peter Minuit Plaza, directly in front of the ferry terminal. The plaza is above the current subway station’s loop tracks (which enable the train to turn around), and there the MTA’s work crews are excavating the 50-foot-wide tunnel that will house the new station’s tracks.

In summer 2005, work began under the northeast section of Battery Park, where new tunnels are being opened and tracks laid. As part of the MTA’s commitment to the New York City Parks Department, trees and other foliage aboveground will be preserved and replanted at the end of the project -- along with other improvements the Parks Department had planned for Battery Park.

Throughout the project, the MTA is committed to keeping noise to a minimum, using dedicated truck routes, and running equipment with ultra-low-sulfur fuel. Ensuring access to area businesses and to the ferry terminal are also top priorities.

When South Ferry is completed in 2008, residents, commuters, and visitors will have a clean, new subway station and an open, pedestrian-friendly Peter Minuit Plaza that leads to the Staten Island Ferry, Battery Park, and the diverse Lower Manhattan community.

For more information, including images of the future station and entrance plaza, visit http://www.mta.info/capconstr/sft/.

Click here to see the latest information on the construction of the South Ferry Subway Terminal.

Images courtesy of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.