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# Damaged power supports put Portal North’s first track to work early
- URL: https://pvweekly.com/portal-north-first-track-cutover/
- Published: 2026-10-27T19:29:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-27T19:29:58.000Z
- Description: 2026 archive · The March cutover joined new track, overhead power and signals to a working railroad—and provided an early alternative when the old route developed trouble.
- Author: PV Weekly Editorial
- Tags: Industry, Archive 2026, #ledger-format, #archive-backfill-20261027

**2026 archive** · March 2026Reporting prepared October 22, 2026\. This retrospective describes events and expectations from the period covered.[Browse the archive](https://pvweekly.com/archive/)

The first track on New Jersey’s Portal North Bridge became useful before its planned passenger-service opening: damaged supports for overhead electrical wires near the old bridge prompted Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT to move trains onto the new route early.

NJ TRANSIT President and CEO Kris Kolluri described the decision in a March 16 interview with NJ Spotlight News. Crews had found four bent catenary poles near the old bridge, he said. Having the new track ready gave the railroad an alternative to a disruption that otherwise would have cut rail access to New York.

That unplanned use followed weeks of tightly staged work over the Hackensack River. The job was not simply to finish a bridge alongside the railway. Crews had to connect it to a railway that continued carrying passengers.

Amtrak’s cutover work began in February. NJ TRANSIT had announced a February 13 start, followed by roughly four weeks of modified timetables from February 15, including consolidated or canceled trains and changed stopping patterns. Those changes created room to transfer systems while maintaining a reduced service.

An Amtrak update on March 3 described the work on three interdependent elements: track, the catenary equipment supplying electrical power to trains, and signals. Each had to function as part of the operating railroad before passenger service could move to the new alignment.

Officials rode a ceremonial train over the bridge March 12 and announced a planned March 16 passenger opening. Kolluri’s subsequent account explains why the track entered use ahead of that plan. It also gives the project’s reliability purpose a specific example, without establishing a long-term performance record.

Portal North is a fixed-span bridge with 50 feet of clearance above the river. Unlike the old swing bridge, it allows vessels to pass beneath without opening the railroad. The first cutover initially put westbound service on the new bridge while eastbound trains continued using the old one.

Moving that remaining track was a separate phase. A September 21 Port Authority advisory described another period of service changes from October 11 through November 15, with weekday Midtown Direct trains diverted to Hoboken and additional PATH service to handle passengers. The November endpoint was still ahead at this collection’s October 22 preparation date.

Completing the second cutover would move the remaining service off the old swing bridge, ending the need to operate the two crossings side by side.

## Sources

- [Portal North Bridge Enters Final Phase of Construction as Work Begins to Put First Track Into Service](https://www.njtransit.com/press-releases/portal-north-bridge-enters-final-phase-construction-work-begins-put-first-track?ref=pvweekly.com) — NJ TRANSIT · 2026-01-15.
- [Progress Continues of Portal North Bridge Cutover](https://media.amtrak.com/2026/03/progress-continues-of-portal-north-bridge-cutover/?ref=pvweekly.com) — Amtrak · 2026-03-03.
- [NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak Prepare to Open First Track on New Portal North Bridge](https://www.njtransit.com/press-releases/nj-transit-and-amtrak-prepare-open-first-track-new-portal-north-bridge?ref=pvweekly.com) — NJ TRANSIT · 2026-03-12.
- [NJ Spotlight News: March 16, 2026](https://www.pbs.org/video/nj-spotlight-news-march-16-2026-1773679022/?ref=pvweekly.com) — NJ Spotlight News / PBS · 2026-03-16.
- [PATH Travel Advisory: Portal North Bridge Work](https://www.panynj.gov/port-authority/en/press-room/press-release-archives/2026-press-releases/path-travel-advisory2.html?ref=pvweekly.com) — Port Authority of New York and New Jersey · 2026-09-21.