Portal Bridge construction on Northeast Corridor to disrupt Fall Break travel

Major construction on the Northeast Corridor rail line will run from Oct. 11 to Nov. 14, potentially disrupting fall break travel for Princeton students, faculty, and staff. NJ Transit and Amtrak have planned temporary service changes including modified train schedules, train consolidations, and cancellations to accommodate construction for Portal North Bridge.

During the construction, half as many weekday trains between Newark and Secaucus are expected to be running, according to reporting by The New York Times. For the duration of fall break, which will last from Oct. 17–25, traveling students and faculty may be inconvenienced by the adjusted railroad schedules. 

The Portal North Bridge will serve as a replacement for the 116-year-old Portal Bridge that is currently used to cross the Hackensack River from Kearny, N.J., to Secaucus, N.J. 

Sherly Zhu ’27 told The Daily Princetonian that “NJ Transit being under construction like this during fall break, a time where a lot of students want to go home or travel to different places, does put a dent in a lot of people’s plans.”

Zhu shared that many students may have to resort to alternative solutions such as Uber and buses to travel, which may impose financial difficulties.

Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt, a lecturer in the Effron Center for the Study of America, commutes to work using NJ Transit. “Hopefully it won’t disrupt my commute,” Perlmutt told the ‘Prince.’ “In the past, I’ve had a lot of issues with New Jersey Transit and having my schedule to pick up my daughter being disrupted because the train is delayed by an hour or two.” 

Bryant Nguyen ’29 told the ‘Prince’ that he will rely on NJ Transit to provide transportation to and from Newark Airport during fall break. 

Newen said these modified hours will lead to “a lot of extra planning,” adding that these adjustments will make the journey back home more difficult for himself and others.  

In early spring, the first stage of the Portal Bridge construction led to similar disruptions along the corridor. At the time, a NJ Transit announcement read, “While disruptive in the short term, these temporary service adjustments are necessary to ensure a safe and successful transition to the new bridge infrastructure.” 

The construction of the new bridge is a part of the Gateway Program, a series of projects designed to facilitate improved railroad transportation along a ten-mile stretch of the Northeast Corridor.

Established in November 2016 with funding from the federal government and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Gateway Program is intended to replace and update outdated rail infrastructure assets as well as increase track, tunnel, bridge, and station capacity.

The program addresses a section of the Northeast Corridor that carries over 200,000 passengers between NJ Transit and Amtrak daily, spanning over 450 trains. The planned construction will affect Princeton affiliates who commute from areas such as New York City as well as those who use trains to travel to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Regular schedules between Newark and Secaucus are expected to resume on Nov. 15, when the Portal North Bridge construction has concluded. 

Maeen Ababneh is a reporter-in-training for the ‘Prince’ from Fort Worth, Texas.

Coralene Ellis is a reporter-in-training for the ‘Prince’ from New Bern, N.C.. 

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.