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NJ Transit Midtown Direct trains are running into New York Penn Station again for Morris County commuters. Regular rail schedules came back on Sunday, November 15, 2026, which makes Monday, November 16, the first weekday since early October that Morristown Line riders have a one-seat ride to Midtown Manhattan.
From Sunday, October 11, through Saturday, November 14, Amtrak was moving the second and final track from the old Portal Bridge, which is more than 110 years old, onto the new Portal North Bridge over the Hackensack River. While that cutover work was underway, trains could only use a single track between Newark and Secaucus, and NJ Transit ran no weekday Midtown Direct service into Penn Station on the Morristown Line, the Gladstone Branch or the Montclair-Boonton Line. Weekday riders were sent to Hoboken instead, then on to Manhattan by PATH, ferry or bus.
That affected a long list of Morris County stations. The Morristown Line runs through Dover, Denville, Morris Plains, Morristown, Convent Station, Madison and Chatham. The Gladstone Branch serves Millington, Stirling and Gillette in Long Hill Township, and the Montclair-Boonton Line stops in Mountain Lakes, Boonton, Towaco and Lincoln Park.
NJ Transit’s Portal Bridge Cutover page now shows rail service back on its regular schedule, with one caveat: delays of up to 20 minutes are possible because of single tracking while final testing on the new bridge is completed. ABC7 New York reported the same 20 minute warning as normal schedules returned Sunday. If you ride Monday morning, give yourself a little cushion and sign up for My Transit Alerts so a late train does not catch you on the platform.
Riders who bought October or November monthly or weekly passes to Hoboken during the diversion should check the ticket guidance on the NJ Transit cutover page before their next trip, since the agency set specific rules for how Hoboken passes would be honored to and from Penn Station.
The Portal North Bridge is a key piece of the Gateway Program. It replaces the old swing bridge, which had to open for river traffic and has long been a weak point on the Northeast Corridor, so the long term payoff should be a more reliable trip into the city for everyone west of Newark.
Working from a downtown coffee shop instead of the office some days? Our local guide to Morristown and our guide to things to do in Chatham both have spots within walking distance of the train.
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