KEARNY, N.J. — Work is about 25% complete on the cutover of the first track of the new Portal North Bridge, Amtrak and NJ Transit officials said at a Thursday news conference at the construction site.
“We’re on track and on schedule,” Jason Hoover, Amtrak assistant vice president, major programs-bridges, said, according to a NorthJersey.com report.
The month-long project will move traffic on one of two tracks from the 116-year-old, swing-span Portal Bridge to the new bridge, an elevated, fixed-span structure over the Hackensack River between Kearny and Secaucus, N.J. The new bridge will eliminate the delays experienced when the current bridge opens for marine traffic, and when it has mechanical issues while opening or closing.
The work, which began Feb. 13, involves the westbound (New York to New Jersey) track. It has required significant service reductions for both NJ Transit and Amtrak, as well as reroutes of NJ Transit trains through March 15 [see “Portal Bridge cutover to trigger …,” Trains.com, Jan. 15, 2026].
NJ Transit has been the lead agency on the bridge project, and Chrissa Roessner, acting chief, construction and project management for NJ Transit, said the commuter operator is “doing electric traction work, track work, and communications work” to prepare for the cutover, according to a WABC-TV report. About 150 people are working around the clock in two, 12-hour shifts.
Work as of Thursday had included laying of 2,600 feet of new track, delivery of 2,500 tons of ballast, and demolition of the old catenary system. Work in the second week will include installing the new catenary. System testing will take place during the third week, while trains will make test runs during the fourth week.
When the work is complete, track speed on the new bridge will be 90 mph, as compared to 60 mph on the current structure. The second track will be cut over this fall. That work is being delayed until then to accommodate heavier summer travel, including that connected with soccer’s World Cup.
While the disruption of regular service has led to grumbling from some commuters, at least one person is viewing it humorously. An unknown individual is running a social media account that claims to be from the current Portal Bridge that describes the structure as “Infrastructure icon. Schedule destroyer. Legend.” Among its posts this week: “‘Temporary transition issue’ is my favorite way to say ‘this is on fire but politely.’”
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Enjoy progress in NEC while you can. It’s unclear if Gateway or Frederick Douglass, vitally important, will ever be built.
What will be interesting is if there is any reduction of average enroute times NYP – Newark station. Another will be the sometime probable malfunction of the swing bridge. How Amtrak dispatches traffic during that breakdown will be telling.
Wonder if during the testing period that a regular train might sneak across the new bridge.