Today begins a 25 day shutdown of the Hoboken Path station, all part of a $430 million restoration and repair project.

The plan includes critical track and switch upgrades to prevent the delays that have frequently plagued the century old rail line.

Crews will also be replacing the concrete platform and four stairwells inside the station.

And while most riders today acknowledged the short term pain will help their commutes in the long run.

It's still a headache.

They'd rather not have.

Ted Goldberg reports.

Shuttles follow Travelers and commuters in Hoboken are adapting to 25 days of no path train service in their city.

Some riders are understanding and some are incredibly frustrated.

NJ Transit Path.

Everything has to be fixed.

Look at Europe has the best service for the trains really fast, you know, like right on time.

And NJ Transit sucks.

Path sucks.

So that's my opinion.

I think it's going to be worth it.

I felt like all these repairs were coming up because they think we're hosting the World Cup next year.

So I felt like maybe this is aligning with that.

The century old station has never shut down this long for repairs.

If you're one of the 20,000 or so weekday commuters who use Hoboken path, your options are the following.

Take a path shuttle to another path station.

Ride a ferry to New York.

Hop on an NJ Transit bus to Midtown Manhattan or take light rail.

As you could see, it's a robust plan to provide that alternate transport for our customers.

So usually my commute I come from Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, so it's pretty far.

Usually it stops here in Hoboken when it stops in Newark, Broad Street, and I have to get off in Newark, Broad Street and then catch the path from from Newark, Penn Station, traffic.

The people waiting, you don't know how long you're going to wait.

You have to be in the office at a certain time.

So it is difficult.

You have to be prepared, come in early.

So so you could get to work early.

The ferry is usually $10, but now it's discounted to $3.

Some commuters say it's still not worth it.

The schedule is really not very good, especially when you're going over to the other side of town, to the Wall Street side, the east side of Manhattan.

Commuters I spoke to understood the need for repairs but weren't happy about how much time they're losing.

Going back, I'm probably going to have to walk across town to the west side of Brookfield Place, and that's about it.

From 180 Maiden Lane and almost 20 minute walk.

And the commute usually is like an hour and a half.

Now it's pushing 2 hours.

One hour a day.

It's it's impossible.

There will be short term pain, but it's for major improvements in the long term.

Hoboken mayor and assembly candidate Ravi Bhalla says these repairs are a long time coming, especially with so much lasting damage from Superstorm Sandy.

12 years ago.

We were looking forward to be seeing a more efficient, reliable and safe service and really the upgrades that we've needed in terms of infrastructure from the path that will really pay dividends in the long term.

What ends up happening with the Leightons so damaged, you start getting unreliability with your track system in its ability.

We have a switching area, a place where there's interlocking in its ability to switch becomes challenging after a while because of the slowdown damage.

Clair de Graaf is Pat's director and general manager.

She says closing the station for 25 consecutive days allows for more extensive repairs.

We could have done it on weekends, but it would have meant closing Hoboken Station for probably up to a year, maybe more every weekend.

So you can imagine the frustration of our customers.

As for starting on a Friday.

Fridays are usually our lowest numbers, so that's why it gives us an opportunity to pace ourselves and kind of look and see our alternate service.

Where do we need tweaks?

Mayor Bhalla says initial tweaks could include more widespread communication about travel options and changes in schedules for ferries and busses.

There's also the nagging question of whether PATH will stick to its timeline.

How optimistic are you guys that 25 days is going to be 25 days?

Very optimistic.

Are you optimistic that it will get done?

No, no.

I'm not optimistic that it's going to get done in time, considering, you know, history, Government projects tend to run a little longer sometimes or any projects.

If everything proceeds as scheduled, the Hoboken Path station will reopen on February 25th.

In Hoboken, I'm Ted Goldberg.

NJ Spotlight News.