NJ Transit rides face major service changes for Portal Bridge Cutover's last phase

Staying with the rails, New Jersey's Portal North Bridge has officially begun its final phase of construction. Okay, take a deep breath. And while the work will help long-term reliability, NJ Transit and Amtrak commuters are going to be dealing with a headache for the next five weeks. Jessica Formoso in Hoboken, what's going on over there? Good morning, Roseanne and Tashani. Look, we've been here before. NJ Transit commuters have done this. If you recall, it was back in February, March when it was the first phase and they dealt with it. A couple of hiccups here and there. They had to wake up a little bit extra, but extra early. I did speak with them this morning here who are like, listen, we did this once. We're here again. It's not too bad. And it's not too bad today because it is a holiday weekend. That said, the work did start yesterday. But with Columbus Day falling today, the impact on the morning commute may be less noticeable than it will be later this week. and that's exactly what we are seeing. Because trains are operating to and from New York Penn Station today, though, they are running on a weekend portal cutover schedule because of the holiday. Amtrak and NJ Transit have entered the final phase of the Portal North Bridge cutover, so crews are working to transfer that final track from the more than 110-year-old Portal Bridge to the new bridge over the Hackensack River. Okay, so the goal is to reduce delays and for it to be more reliable, But it cannot be done without disruptions to commuters, so here's the deal. Customers on all train lines, with the exception of the Atlantic City Rail line, will have to adjust their commutes. Midtown Direct customers traveling to and from the city on the Morris and Essex, Gladstone Branch, and Montclair-Boonton lines will have to change here in Hoboken since there will be no Midtown Direct service into Penn Station New York on weekdays. For those customers, once they're here in Hoboken, Midtown Direct tickets will be cross-honored by the PATH. New York Waterway Ferry, and New Jersey Transit buses. Commuters have been getting the warnings. We did speak with a few of them who had to deal with this a few months ago. It was quite hectic. I mean, getting to work, you had to leave about an hour or two earlier. And this time, I expect it to be the same thing, if not even worse, than last time. Just getting to work a lot later and having the trains be a little bit more packed and everything. Well, I already ran into a couple of issues. One of my trains got shut down and then I had to transfer to a whole different line. And then the train I was supposed to originally take for this, I ended up missing it by just a second. They closed the door on me and then they took off. So it was just at the Hoboken Terminal and things are, you know, moving just right this morning. Again, it is a holiday weekend, so not a lot of commuters. Those we spoke with, which we will hear in the next hour, are dealing with it pretty good, I have to say. Now, the big question, how long will this last and when will service be back to normal? Well, five weeks. It won't be until Sunday, November 15th. Till then, the best advice I can give you is make sure you check your apps and the New Jersey Transit website for any last-minute changes. But, guys, this is what you're going to have to deal with for the next five weeks. Oh, boy. All right. Pack your patience, as we often say during these travel stories. Jessica, thank you.