NEWARK, N.J. — Amtrak and NJ Transit will reduce the number of weekday trains between Newark and Secaucus, N.J., from 332 to 178 between Feb. 15 and March 14 for the first phase of work moving traffic to the new Portal North Bridge, officials said during a press conference today (Jan. 15).
The outage is necessary to integrate complicated track, catenary, and signal connections for one of two tracks on the $2.5 billion fixed-span bridge, which will take the place of the 110-year-old Portal drawbridge over the Secaucus River that for decades has been prone to operational failures.
A similar month-long cutover for the second track will occur in late September or early October. This will leave both tracks open for an expected summer traffic surge — including service for World Cup soccer events in Philadelphia, Boston, and New Jersey’s Meadowlands stadium.
NJ Transit president and CEO Kris Kolluri and Amtrak President Roger Harris said limiting the work to overnights and weekends was studied, but was not deemed feasible. Officials from both organizations said inherent inefficiencies of starting up and shutting down the work would lengthen the cutover process, and there would be significant risk in not being open to normal traffic if there are any complications.
Keeping one track open differs from the daily shutdowns beginning this week on Virginia’s Long Bridge project over the Potomac, because so many more trains are involved [see “Virginia’s Long Bridge project to require …,” Trains.com, Oct. 13, 2025]. Harris says, “We’ve come up with a plan that we believe will cause the least amount of pain in the least amount of time, and will also be done efficiently and reliably.”
The most challenging part of the cutover is the need to remove six catenary poles and foundations serving the old right-of-way, as well as constructing two new interlockings and more than 2 miles of new track. Installation of communication wiring and preparation of track panels has been underway for months, but all systems must be tested following the cutover. Two shifts with 70 to 90 employees per shift will be working seven days per week to make the changes.
Schedule adjustments
NJ Transit’s North Jersey Coast and Northeast Corridor service will suffer the most reductions, as outlined on a special NJT website. The Philadelphia-New York segment of Amtrak’s Keystone Service will also take a hit. New schedules for the outage dates are posted for the relevant dates on Amtrak’s website.
NJ Transit’s “guiding principles” for its changes are to maintain connectivity, avoid full-line suspensions, and provide predictable travel options. These plans include:
Diverting Midtown Direct service on the Gladstone Branch, Morristown, and Montclair-Boonton lines to Hoboken Terminal, where tickets will be honored on PATH trains, New York Waterways ferries, and NJT’s No. 126 bus route.
Preserving existing service on NJ Transit’s non-NEC trains connecting at Secaucus to the Bergen County, Pascack Valley, Port Jervis, and Main Line routes through new shuttles between Secaucus and New York’s Penn Station.
Trimming Amtrak Keystones from 24 to 10 weekday trains. Only one Acela and two Northeast Regional round trips will be eliminated during the outage; no long-distance trains are being dropped.
“We have worked collaboratively to do the work as efficiently as possible to give riders reliable service that hasn’t existed for over five decades,” Kolluri said.
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