NEW YORK — Amtrak has scheduled a week of urgent track repairs at New York’s Penn Station to coincide with the final week of the current service changes accommodating the Portal Bridge cutover, NorthJersey.com reports.
The work is scheduled to begin March 9 and end March 15, the same day that work is slated to be completed on the cutover of one of two tracks to the new Portal North Bridge in New Jersey. It involves replacement of four switches and an interlocking connecting the station to the North River Tunnels under the Hudson.
Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams told the news site that the infrastructure in question is “showing signs of fatigue,” and that addressing the work at the same time as the Portal Bridge project would reduce the amount of disruption for passengers. No additional service reductions will be required, he said.
The Portal Bridge cutover has required Amtrak and NJ Transit to reduce trains between Newark and Secaucus, N.J., by more than 50% since Feb. 15 [see “Portal Bridge cutover to trigger …,” Trains.com, Jan. 15, 2026]. Traffic on one of two tracks is being moved from the existing Portal Bridge, a 116-year-old swing span, to the higher, fixed-span Portal North Bridge that will eliminate bridge openings for marine traffic. The second track will be cut over this fall.\
Amtrak released photos Tuesday (March 3) showing the ongoing work on the Portal Bridge, saying crews continue to work around the clock on the project “since there is so much that is necessary to connect the new bridge to the existing railroad.”
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Any idea if the new Portal bridge project was “on time” and “on budget”? Seems to have been built with minimal problems, unlike many NEC projects.
Let’s be clear…there is the North River and the Hudson River, no North Hudson. The new Portal bridge is north of the old Portal bridge. Better copy checking would be appreciated. “North River tunnels under the Hudson”??
The North River is the Hudson River. They are one and the same. Yes, the North River Tunnels are under the Hudson.