Beginning Oct. 9, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) are set to conduct work to transfer the final track from the 116-old Portal Bridge to the new Portal North Bridge over the Hackensack River. Once complete, rail operations will resume in full service over the new bridge, retiring the old bridge. The work is essential to advancing long-term reliability and capacity improvements on the Northeast Corridor.

While the pair notes that the cutover of Amtrak-owned wires and electrical systems will deliver benefits, it means customers on all rail lines except the Atlantic City Rail Line will experience temporary adjustments to rail service beginning on  Oct. 11 and continuing for approximately five weeks—similar to the changes deployed in February and March of this year when the first track was switched.

NJ Transit warns riders to expect modified train schedules to include some train consolidations or cancellations, and others with changed departure times and/or stopping patterns.

NJ Transit says it worked closely with Amtrak and regional partners to develop a customer-focused service plan prioritizing capacity, continuity and safety.

"Five weeks of adjusted schedules will deliver a modern, high-level bridge that ends a century of swing-bridge delays for customers traveling the Northeast Corridor to and from New York," said NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri. "We worked closely with Amtrak on a service plan that maximizes capacity and keeps every rail line running, and we thank our customers for their patience as we complete the final step of this long-awaited project."

Concurrently, work on three rail lines will occur to utilize reduced train traffic and avoid impacting customers again at a later date:

• North Jersey Coast Line: Work on the moveable bridge at Brielle is scheduled to begin on Oct. 11 and continue for two weeks. Busing will be provided for customers between Bay Head and Manasquan during this time.
• Port Jervis Line: Riders will have substitute busing on weekdays from Oct. 11 through Nov. 14 to accommodate track maintenance between Suffern and Port Jervis stations. Eight weekday midday off-peak trains will be replaced by buses, with rail connections at Ramsey Route 17.
• Raritan Valley Line: Buses will replace trains between Cranford and Newark on Nov. 7 to accommodate Conrail track replacement work. 

Similarly, Amtrak is utilizing the reduced-traffic opportunity to perform eight additional maintenance projects across the Northeast Corridor, in six states and Washington, D.C.

The duo reports that regular schedules are expected to resume on Nov. 15—subject to the completion of safety testing.

“As we enter this second and final cutover for Portal North Bridge, we're building on the success of the first one, to deliver tangible results and benefits to New Jersey visitors and residents,” said Amtrak Interim President Byl Herrmann. “After the success of the first cutover, we followed that up with outstanding service during the World Cup, and we are going to conclude the third major event for us this year on a high note with the second cutover the same way by proving what this joint team can accomplish when we work together.”

The Portal North Bridge is a new modern two-track, high-level, fixed-span bridge that will improve service and capacity along this section of the Northeast Corridor. The new Portal North Bridge rises 50 feet over the Hackensack River, doubling the height clearance and allows marine traffic to pass underneath without interrupting rail traffic.

Once complete, all rail traffic to and from New York City will use the new bridge. The original bridge will be permanently removed from service as the new bridge will accommodate all traffic.

The project is funded primarily by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the state of New Jersey and Amtrak. In January 2021, former New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced the signing of a Full Funding Grant Agreement, which secured $766.5 million in Federal Transit Administration funding to support the project’s construction.

The project is a critical component of the larger Gateway Program, which will eventually double rail capacity between Newark and New York.

NJ Transit and Amtrak say they leveraged three core principles in developing service plans, attempting to minimize impacts to passengers to the greatest extent possible while contending with the operational realities during the cutover period.

• Maximizing capacity and seat availability
• Maintaining service on all rail lines
• Upholding the highest standards of safety

While disruptive in the short term, the pair says these temporary service adjustments are necessary to ensure a safe and successful transition to the new bridge infrastructure.