Passengers using Amtrak and NJ Transit might face weeks of rail chaos in early 2026 as work wraps up on the long-awaited Portal North Bridge — a $2.3 billion project meant to finally fix one of the Northeast Corridor’s most notorious bottlenecks.
According to NorthJersey.com, the transition — known as the “cutover” — could disrupt train service for up to six weeks, with some trains being canceled or rerouted. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said officials are finalizing the schedule and plan to announce full details by December 2025.
“The Portal Bridge project is moving at a good pace, and there will be some changes coming from a construction standpoint that will require some schedule changes,” Kolluri explained, adding that mayors and local leaders will be briefed before the changes are rolled out.
The new fixed-span bridge crosses the Hackensack River between Kearny and Secaucus, New Jersey, handling more than 450 trains and 200,000 passengers daily, according to Amtrak. Unlike the century-old swing bridge it replaces — notorious for jamming and needing workers to hammer it shut — the new structure will sit higher, allowing 50 feet of clearance for river traffic.
The full project spans 2.5 miles, including elevated approaches leading up to the new bridge. Originally budgeted at $1.8 billion when groundbreaking began in August 2022, costs have since climbed to $2.3 billion.
Amtrak’s latest updates confirm that while the bridge will open to service in late 2026, the entire project will wrap up in 2027.
The “cutover” phase — the tricky part — involves connecting new systems with old ones, including tracks, wiring, signals, and communication lines. Former Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner described it as one of the most complex stages of construction.
“There’s more work than what you see here,” Gardner said during a February 2025 press tour. “It’s about interfacing the existing tracks, switches, and signals with the new — starting with single-track use before we reach full functionality.”
When complete, the Portal North Bridge will end over a century of mechanical headaches, improving reliability for one of the busiest rail corridors in the country — but riders should brace themselves for a bumpy six-week ride first.
