KEARNY, N.J. — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy were among a large contingent of federal, state, local, and transportation officials on hand Monday, Aug. 1, for groundbreaking for the Portal North Bridge. The new structure will replace the 112-year-old, often-unreliable swing bridge over the Hackensack River on the Northeast Corridor, said to be the nation’s busiest rail bridge.
NJ.com reports total cost of the project is about $1.8 billion. At Monday’s ceremony, New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti promised a ribbon cutting for the completed structure in 2026: “We will deliver Portal North on time and … on budget.” The news site reports the event actually involved three ceremonial groundbreakings to accommodate all the officials on hand.
“This project turns the Portal North Bridge from a chokepoint to an access point. It modernizes the way that people and goods get to and from this region that is responsible for 20 percent of America’s economic product every year,” Buttigieg said in a press release. “I hope that this bridge will not only bring people to work and loved ones to where they need to be, but brings renewed confidence in our ability to get things done together. We are entering into a true infrastructure decade.”
NJ Transit last year approved a $1.56 billion contract — the most expensive in the agency’s history, for bridge construction [see “NJ Transit approves contract …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 13, 2021].
I also worry about being a “picker of nits” or raining on the parade out at the groundbreaking. But…A recent post at Trainorders.com has it SecTrans Buttigieg recently traveled DC-NYC. He originally booked a flight!?!? Then when his flight was canceled even then he did not deign to ride Amtrak, not even in the NEC! He drove. IF this story is true, what’s Mayor Pete saying by attending this ceremony; It’s “trains for thee but not for me”?
Pete’s an imbecile.
You are right. If his quote about people and GOODS is correct. The only goods that will ever cross this bridge will be railroad ballast.
Yeah, he’s SecTrans and doesn’t know that the route is passenger/commuter only. Pathetic beyond belief. Buttigieg is all fluff, no substance. I could say more but then I’d have to go political.
I commented on this a year ago in regards to why they were building a 2 track bridge which will still be a bottleneck.It seems that Amtrak and NJ transit need to hire people with vision, rather than yes men.If they DO NOT make the new bridge 4 tracks now, they should at least build the abutments and piers for 4 tracks at least which would probably cost less than 20% more.Daniel B is right and can someone in authority, question why this is not being done before its too late.
I’m curious as to why they’re going with a 2-track bridge (the current one is also 2-track). Another article I saw claimed that pre-pandemic, about 450 trains from Amtrak and NJ Transit crossed the bridge daily. That’s 9-10 trains each way per hour, on average. Sounds like it’s probably at or near capacity, so why not add additional tracks now instead of building a second bridge later? Could just be an issue of “we can’t afford more than 2 tracks right now”.
Need clarification. Is the removal of the swing bridge definite when North Portal is in full service? Is that because the eventual South Portal bridge will be in the swing bridge”s location?
I suggest you do a search for the Portal Bridge + New Jersey Transit. The web page may answer these questions.
The NJ Transit website describes this as a fixed bridge with a clearance of 50 feet for shipping. Means it’s upstream of blue water shipping where the clearance above high water is, I don’t know the number but probably well over 100 feet.
Does anyone know the typical maximum grade for electrified passenger trains?
I believe that one side of the North River tunnels has a grade of about 1.92%, if memory serves. That has been handled by electric propulsion for over 100 years, and that is, of course, from a standing start from NYP.
Not to be a picker of nits, but Amtrak trains start out from Penn on relatively level track, then pickup speed while running downhill to the bottom of the tunnel’s grade, then are usually running 30-40 mph when the hit the upgrade. So the situation at the new bridge would also not be from a standing start.
And how did you come to this conclusion about the tunnel speeds?
Now all they need to do is start work on the rest of the Gateway project, specifically new Hudson River tunnels.
Patience, Mr. McFarlane. Give it time, Gerald. In New York, rail projects consume multiples of half a century.