Will the Portal Bridge make NJ trains more reliable?
News 12 looked into what causes many of these failures.
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New Jersey Transit and Amtrak customers saw up to hourlong service delays Friday into the evening commute after an early-morning Amtrak wire issue.
"You never have any idea what you're going to get on a daily basis from them," said a commuter named from Fred from New York.
Just one day after the ceremonial "first ride" over the new Portal Bridge - and three days before its scheduled public launch - the bridge opened early as the only option when delays struck the old one.
Amtrak sent pictures showing leaning catenary poles and downed wire near the old Portal Bridge, but they said the cause was unclear.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill joked at the event Thursday that she wants an end to "summers of hell" and the overhead catenary wires fixed. News 12 looked into what causes many of these failures.
Summers in particular can be difficult for NJ Transit and Amtrak trains along the Northeast Corridor because the catenary lines that power the trains are made of metal. When temperatures rise, the metal expands, and the lines sag and snap, causing power outages and delaying trains.
"There's some calamity every week between Kearny and New York," said Joe Versaggi, the president of the NJ Association of Railroad Passengers. "Some of the Northeast Corridor dates from 1938 in this area. They can only do a section at a time.
The new Portal Bridge is said to be more reliable, with its all-new catenary wire. There's also something called "constant tension wires." They self-adjust with weights to keep the lines from sagging. NJ Transit says they are used between New Brunswick and Trenton, but cannot be installed in the current Hudson River tunnels due to height restrictions.
Some Metro-North and LIRR trains use a third rail system like on the subway, instead of the wires. Those trains cannot travel as fast.
The new Portal Bridge and its new overhead wires are a glistening 2.5 miles along the 58 mile stretch of Northeast Corridor in New Jersey. But, if Friday morning was any indication, issues will persist until the nearly-90-year-old infrastructure surrounding it is fully replaced - which isn't expected until the year 2040.
