Rail service into New York will be reduced for a month as Amtrak shifts train operations from the 110-year-old Portal Bridge to the newly constructed Portal North Bridge over the Hackensack River, a key milestone in the Gateway Program.
The “cutover” work, scheduled from Feb. 15 through March 14, will temporarily limit trains to a single track between Newark and Secaucus. As a result, fewer trains will operate into Penn Station New York on weekdays on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line, NJ Transit said.
There will be no weekday Midtown Direct service into Penn Station during the construction period on the Morristown Line, Gladstone Branch and Montclair-Boonton Line. Those trains will instead be diverted to Hoboken.
NJ Transit said the cutover involves deactivating legacy infrastructure on the existing Portal Bridge, activating new track alignments, integrating upgraded signaling, power and communications systems, and testing interlockings and safety systems. Because the systems are interconnected, the work must be completed within specific time windows, requiring temporary service reductions.
A special schedule will take effect Sunday, Feb. 15. Regular service is expected to resume Sunday, March 15, pending completion of safety testing.
During the work, customers can expect modified train schedules, including earlier departures, reduced frequencies on some segments, longer travel times and potential train consolidations or cancellations.
NJ Transit is implementing cross-honoring with PATH trains, New York Waterway ferries and certain NJ Transit bus routes to ease the impact. For example, rail tickets will be accepted on PATH service between Hoboken and 33rd Street, on NY Waterway ferries between Hoboken and Midtown, and on NJ Transit’s No. 126 bus between Hoboken and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The agency also said rail tickets and passes will be accepted on NJ Transit bus routes in some corridors. Customers traveling from stations such as Perth Amboy may use rail passes on certain bus routes into Manhattan, though additional fares may apply for travel beyond the printed ticket destination.
NJ Transit is advising riders to check schedules before traveling, allow extra time and expect crowding on alternative services. Officials recommend traveling outside peak periods, before 7 or after 9 in the morning and before 4 or after 7 in the evening, or working from home when possible.
Monthly pass holders on Midtown Direct lines are being advised to purchase Hoboken-based passes for February and March. Those passes will be cross-honored for travel into Manhattan during the construction window. One-way ticket customers will need to purchase Hoboken tickets on weekdays during the cutover period.