Monday's NJ Transit Commute: Portal Cutover Weekday Pattern Resumes — Midtown Direct to Hoboken, 15-to-30-Minute Delays Likely at Secaucus

Monday morning is a Portal North Bridge cutover weekday, and New Jersey commuters should plan for the pattern that has held since October 11. NJ Transit is operating on a single track between Newark and Secaucus while Amtrak connects the second track of the new Portal North Bridge, and the project's own cutover guide warns that delays of 15 to 30 minutes or more are likely at Secaucus during the peak hours of 7 to 9 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. The Phase 2 cutover runs through November 15.

Weekday Midtown Direct trains on the Morris & Essex Line, the Gladstone Branch and the Montclair-Boonton Line terminate at Hoboken instead of Penn Station New York. From Hoboken Terminal, the published transfer options are PATH to 33rd Street — about 15 minutes, running every six minutes on weekday mornings from 7 to 9:30 a.m. under the Port Authority's added service — the NY Waterway ferry to West 39th Street, about 10 minutes, and NJ Transit's Bus 126 to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, about 30 to 45 minutes through the Lincoln Tunnel. NJ Transit tickets are cross-honored on those services on weekdays during the cutover, and the Port Authority expects crowding at Hoboken and other PATH stations at the peaks.

The practical advice from the guide is unglamorous and specific: check the NJ Transit app or travel alerts before leaving home, follow the crowds at Hoboken toward the PATH entrance downstairs, and build the transfer into the morning rather than discovering it at Secaucus. Weekend Midtown Direct trains ran to Penn Station; Monday's do not. Regular schedules are expected to resume after the cutover ends in mid-November, subject to the project's completion.