Thinking of taking NJ Transit into or out of New York's Penn Station Thursday night or anytime Friday? Get ready for some commuting headaches thanks to repair work.
The agency said that rail service to and from the transit hub will operate with "select cancellations and potentially heavy delays" through Friday. The delays were said to be up to 30 minutes on nearly every single line, with the exception of the Atlantic City line.
Rail tickets and passes will continue to be honored by NJ Transit bus service and private buses, as well as PATH trains at Newark Penn Station, Hoboken and 33rd St in Manhattan. Midtown Direct service will continue to be diverted to Hoboken, with select cancellations as well.
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The delays and cancellations hampered commutes starting before Thursday's evening rush, and only worsened as more commuters looked to get home. Trains had been suspended for hours earlier in the day due to the continuous bridge problems.
The problems were attributed to ongoing signal issues on the Portal Bridge signal, NJ Transit said. "Extensive repairs" were said to be underway to fix the issues, but no estimate or timetable was given for when service might be fully restored.
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NJ Transit and Amtrak are replacing the century-old, two-track Portal Bridge built in 1910 over the Hackensack River with a higher bridge that will not have to open and close for river traffic, according to NJ Transit's website.
"Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bridge carried more than 450 daily Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT trains and 200,000 daily passengers over the Hackensack River – a critical link in the congested territory between Newark, New Jersey and Penn Station, New York," NJ Transit said.
However, NJ Transit notes that the bridge, through the years has become a "major bottleneck and source of delays, particularly when the aging bridge malfunctions during opening and closing for maritime traffic."
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