BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY.- The New York Transit Museum presents the exhibit Front Lines Rebuilding the Rails After 9/11 Photographs by Sam Hollenshead starting September 5 and running through December 10, 2006. When the two towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, an explosion of steel, glass, concrete, and heat crashed down upon the earth. At the precise moment of their collapse, the North and South towers registered 2.3 and 2.1, respectively, on the Richter Scale. The ruins above ground provided a glimpse of the destruction below. Beneath the massive pile of debris was a ruptured chamber of rubble where the 1 and 9 subway and the PATH train to New Jersey ran.

Work began immediately. As the pile of debris was removed and damage to the tunnel could more accurately be assessed, MTA engineers began planning the course of action and completed designs for the entire effort by February. Contracts were awarded in March and construction began with the demolition of the damaged subway line and ground stabilization. After the debris had been cleared, the site became a hive of activity as ironworkers erected new steel, timber men positioned wall and ceiling forms, laborers laid new track and a slew of other trades installed utilities and provided all necessary support. Working 24 hours a day, seven days a week restoration of service was accomplished faster than anyone had thought possible. Nine months after work began, the first train reached the end of the line at the South Ferry station reconnecting part of Lower Manhattan into the subway network.

Rebuilding the Port Authority Trans-Hudson line, or PATH train to New Jersey took a little longer. The two tunnels under the Hudson River were flooded from broken sewer and water mains, as well as from firefighters' months-long effort to extinguish fires in the rubble. The train line and temporary station were built in 16 months. The new permanent station is scheduled for completion in 2009.

Photographer Sam Hollenshead documented the reconstruction process. His images captured the heroic efforts of the workers toiling around the clock in the aftermath of the destruction. Seeing these images five years after that tragic day serves as an important reminder of their service to the region. Rebuilding this vital infrastructure has played an important role in the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan.