Starting this October, NJ Transit riders face five weeks of service disruptions
Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... The final cut-over process to link Northeast Corridor train tracks to the new Portal North Bridge will start in October, [2026] and it will require five weeks of service disruptions.
.....
Amtrak and NJ Transit announced that service will once again be reduced along the Northeast Corridor as they spend the five weeks between October 9 and November 14 [2026] connecting the second track on the new bridge to a new series of tracks, wires, signal systems, switches and other mechanical necessities.
..... "We know that this is an inconvenience," NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri said during a call with reporters on Thursday September 17. [2026]
Weekdays
*..... "If you give us five weeks to do this important work on the busiest section of the corridor, you will not have to worry about this bridge again for the next 100 years. That is the trade-off."
..... Warren LeBeau, Amtrak's vice president for infrastructure project delivery, said this cut-over will take a week longer than the four-week transition in February and March earlier this year [2026] because the work is even more complicated this time.
..... "We're essentially connecting all of the new track to both sides of a brand-new interlocking and switch that needs to be installed," LeBeau said.
..... On the east side of the bridge, workers will also be "finishing the bridge structural work in order to be able to support the new track," he said.
..... One of the biggest service changes is that all Midtown Direct trains will be diverted to Hoboken on weekdays during the five-week period.
..... Regular NJ Transit service is schedule to resume on Sunday November 15, [2026] which will mark the first day of full service on the new $2.3 billion two-track, fixed-span Portal North Bridge.
.....
Demolition of the old bridge will begin in January 2027, a "controlled disassembly" process that doesn't require explosives, LeBeau said. There are not expected to be service reductions associated with that work.
NJ Transit service impacts
..... The biggest service reductions will be felt by those who travel to New Y9ork Penn station, because there will be a 50% reduction in service for trains between Newark and New York. Here are the line-by-line service impacts broken down by weekends and weekdays.
Weekdays
* Northeast Corridor: Train trips will reduce to 113, from 133.
* North Jersey Coast Line: Train trips will reduce to 87 from 99.
* Raritan Valley Line: Train trips will reduce to 50, from 51.
* Morristown Line and Gladestone Branch: Train trips will reduce to 139, from 148.
* Montclair-Booton Line: Train trips will reduce to 139, from 148.
* Main, Bergen, Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines are unchanged, but there will be 22 connection trips added in each direction between Secaucus and Penn Station in New York.
..... All Midtown Direct trains will be diverted to Hoboken on weekdays. Therefore, Morristown, Gladstone and Montclair-Booton line customers should purchase tickets that begin or end in Hoboken and will receive cross-honoring at PATH's Hoboken and 33rd Street stations, NY Waterway ferry service between Hoboken and Midtown, and the Number 126 bus between Hoboken and the Port authority Bus Terminal.
Weekends
* New York trains: Hourly service trains are subject to shifts up to 30 minutes.
* Morristown Line: Morristown connection to Hoboken will occur at Secaucus instead of Newark Broad Street.
* Montclair-Booton Line: Schedule will continue to operate bi-hourly at different times to maintain New York connection at Newark.
* Montclair-Gladestone: Last connection trips will operate 30 minutes earlier.
* Main, Bergen, Pascack Valley and Port Jervis Lines: 17 additional shuttle trips will operate in each direction between Secaucus and new York Penn Station to maintain connections.
..... Morristown, Gladstone and Montclair-Booton customers who buy weekly passes or FLEXPASS to or from Hoboken during this period will have them honored on weekends when when service operates to and from New York.
Taking advantage of the outage
..... Because this is a rare period of lengthy reduced service along the Northeast Corridor - the busiest stretch of passenger railroad in the Western Hemisphere - both Amtrak and NJ Transit will take advantage of this time to advance repairs and constitution on other projects.
..... LeBeau said Amtrak has 12 major maintenance programs from Virginia to Boston that it will work on during the five weeks.
..... NJ Transit's additional work will take place at three locations. They are:
* North Jersey Coast Line's Brielle bridge, where trains will not operate between Manasquan and Bay Head between October 11 and 25, with buses transporting people at Bay Head and Point Pleasant with a rail connection at Manasquan. Buses will replace the last train from Long Branch to Bay Head on Saturday and Sunday.
* Raritan Valley Line track replacement at the junction with the Northeast Corridor on November 7. Buses will replace trains between Cranford and Newark.
* Port Jervie Line ongoing track maintenance will take place between Suffern and Port Jervis stations, which will require eight weekday, midday trains to be replaced bu bus, with a rail connection at Ramsey Route 17 from October 11 through November 14.