Portal Bridge Cutover Monday: Midtown Direct Still Ends in Hoboken — Regular Schedules Are Expected Back November 15
The final track transfer between Newark and Secaucus is in its last two weeks. Weekday Midtown Direct riders on three lines ride to Hoboken and cross over on PATH, ferry or the 126 bus — and weekend trains still run to Penn Station.
Monday's rail commute is still a cutover commute. Amtrak and NJ Transit are performing the final critical work to transfer the last track of rail service from the old Portal Bridge to the new Portal North Bridge over the Hackensack River, a project window that runs from October 9 to November 15 and affects every rail line except the Atlantic City Rail Line. With one track doing the work of two between Newark and Secaucus, the adjusted schedules that took effect October 11 remain in force today.
The pattern regular riders know by now holds for this week: weekday Midtown Direct trains on the Montclair-Boonton, Morris & Essex and Gladstone Branch lines are diverted to Hoboken instead of New York Penn Station, while weekend Midtown Direct trains operate to and from Penn Station as usual. From Hoboken, cross-honoring is in effect with PATH at Hoboken and 33rd Street only, with New York Waterway ferries on weekdays between Hoboken Terminal and West 39th Street, and with NJ Transit's 126 bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The full adjusted schedules, by line, are posted at njtransit.com/portalcutover.
The end of it is now on the calendar in a way it was not in October: regular schedules are expected to resume on Sunday, November 15, when the transfer is complete. That makes this the last Monday of the cutover pattern before Election Day and the final full week of diversions — after which the century-old swing bridge that has delayed this corridor for generations is out of the railroad. This desk claims no delay for any specific Monday train; none is posted in the notice read this run.
