Heads up, New Jersey Transit commuters: your daily trip to and from New York City may be rerouted as Portal Bridge construction began on Sunday, impacting commutes after Presidents’ Day.

The needed upgrades on the Portal Bridge have led to temporary service changes for some NJ Transit train schedules, with some commuters facing at least a month of disruptions.

Changes to look for

These impacts will primarily affect rail lines that operate through the Portal Bridge corridor, including services into and out of New York Penn Station. While disruptive in the short term, these impacts are necessary to ensure a safe and successful transition to the new bridge infrastructure.

Customers are encouraged to check schedules before traveling, allow extra travel time, and please understand that the alternate service options for Midtown Direct customers on the Morristown, Gladstone and Montclair-Boonton Lines being diverted to Hoboken have limited capacity and may experience significant crowding during peak travel periods. 

If you must travel, riding before 7 a.m. or after 9 a.m. on weekday mornings or before 4 p.m. or after 7 p.m. on weekday evenings is highly recommended.

Customers who can work from home should do so to the greatest extent possible during this period. 

According to NJ Transit, regular service will resume on March 15th, and customers are advised to check their website before heading out the door.

What work is being done?

The cutover work involves transferring active rail traffic from one track that crosses the more than 110-year-old Portal Bridge to the newly constructed Portal North Bridge. Key elements of the work include:

Deactivation of legacy infrastructure associated with the old bridge

Reconfiguration and activation of new track alignments

Integration of new signaling, power, and communications systems

Testing and commissioning of interlockings and safety systems

Due to the interdependent nature of these systems, the work must occur within defined time windows and requires temporary reductions in operational flexibility across the corridor.

What to expect?

During the next month, NJ Transit riders can expect the following:

Modified train schedules, largely including earlier departures

Reduced service frequencies on certain segments

Longer travel times due to operational constraints

Some train consolidations or cancellations 

Customer support is also being extended throughout the construction period, which includes:

Cross-honoring with PATH and New York Waterway Ferry with enhanced AM/PM peak ferry service to/from Midtown

Cross-honoring NJ TRANSIT rail tickets and passes on NJ TRANSIT bus service

For example, customers who normally take the train from Perth Amboy to Penn Station New York, may use their rail pass or ticket on a bus from Perth Amboy or Woodbridge to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Customers using their tickets or passes to travel to a destination other than the destination printed on their original ticket will be subject to the appropriate additional fare if applicable.

Advance notice of service impacts across every available customer communication channel

Real-time service alerts through digital channels

Station signage and messaging

FLEXPASS ticket option on sale 2/15 (20-trips w/ 15% discount)

Additional NJ TRANSIT Staff in Hoboken & Secaucus

This all comes as NJ Transit and Amtrak started work to transfer one track of rail service along the Northeast Corridor. The main issue is that with only one track in service between Newark and Secaucus, only half the number of trains per hour can run, which could cause delays and unplanned cancellations.