NJ Transit's Portal Bridge Cutover Ends Saturday, Nov. 14; Regular Schedules and Midtown Direct Service to Penn Station Resume Sunday, Nov. 15

Five weeks of single-track operations come to an end; final return to normal service depends on completion of safety checks

Amtrak's track cutover work at the Portal North Bridge ends Saturday, Nov. 14, and NJ Transit will return to its regular train schedules on Sunday, Nov. 15. Midtown Direct trains on the Morristown Line, Gladstone Branch and Montclair-Boonton Line, which have been diverted to Hoboken since Oct. 11, will also resume weekday service to New York Penn Station. However, normal service is contingent on the completion of safety testing.

NJ Transit announced that Amtrak's Portal Bridge track cutover work will wrap up on Saturday, Nov. 14, and that it will return to regular train schedules on Sunday, Nov. 15. Resumption of normal service, however, is conditional on the completion of safety testing. Because of the work, the section between Newark and Secaucus operated on a single track for about five weeks starting Oct. 11.

During the work period, weekday trains to New York Penn Station on the Northeast Corridor Line and North Jersey Coast Line were reduced, and all Midtown Direct trains on the Morristown Line, Gladstone Branch and Montclair-Boonton Line were diverted to Hoboken. Beginning Nov. 15, these lines will again run directly into New York Penn Station on weekdays. On weekends, Midtown Direct trains continued to run to Penn Station throughout the work period.

Ticket and transfer cross-honoring valid only through Nov. 14

Monthly and weekly passes and Flex Passes to Hoboken (via Newark Broad Street) that Midtown Direct customers purchased during the work period can be used as is for travel to New York Penn Station from Nov. 15 to 30. Cross-honoring that allowed riders to transfer in Hoboken to PATH (Hoboken to 33rd Street only), NY Waterway ferries (Hoboken to Midtown/West 39th Street, Pier 79) and NJ Transit buses applies only through Nov. 14, when the work ends.

Schedules for each line and the latest service information are available on the NJ Transit website (njtransit.com/portalcutover) and in the app. This work is the second and final track shift from the more than 110-year-old Portal Bridge to the new Portal North Bridge, one phase of the Gateway Program, which also includes building new Hudson River tunnels.