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Portal Bridge
The Portal Bridge is a two-track rotating swing-span railroad bridge over the Hackensack River in Kearny and Secaucus, New Jersey, United States. It is on the Northeast Corridor just west of Secaucus Junction and east of the Sawtooth Bridges. Owned and operated by Amtrak and used extensively by NJ Transit, it is the busiest train span in the Western Hemisphere, carrying between 150,000 and 200,000 passengers per day on approximately 450 daily trains (an average of one train every two minutes during the day).
Opened in November 1910, the bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in conjunction with service to the newly constructed Pennsylvania Station in New York City. It is 961 feet (293 m) long. The average bridge clearance of 20 feet (6.1 m) (depending on the tide) requires it to swing open to allow maritime traffic to pass underneath it. By the 2000s, the Portal Bridge train speeds were limited to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).
Replacement of the bridge is the first phase of the Gateway Project. After initially refusing to provide any funding for the project, the first Trump administration allowed the project to move forward in February 2020. The bridge replacement is estimated to cost $1.8 billion. Funding comprises $811 million from the State of New Jersey, $766.5 million from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), $261.5 million from Amtrak and $57.1 million from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Construction of the new bridge was given final approval to proceed in April 2022 and later began on August 1, 2022. The first track on the new bridge, known as the Portal North Bridge, entered service on March 13, 2026, about two and a half days ahead of the planned opening on March 16. A catenary pole had failed on the old bridge, and NJT and Amtrak officials decided to shift rail traffic onto the new bridge early.
The bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad as part of its New York Tunnel Extension project, which also included the Sawtooth Bridges, North River Tunnels, and Manhattan Transfer station.
The Portal Bridge is a 961-foot (293 m) steel structure with masonry abutments. The bridge consists of a 300-foot (91 m) through-truss swing span and six 110-foot-long (34 m) open-deck girder approach spans (three on each side of the center span). The bridge itself is partially made of wood.
Construction of the bridge was begun in August 1905, and the bridge was placed in service on November 27, 1910, based on bridge designs from the 1840s.[citation needed] The bridge was designed to last 100 years. Overhead catenary to supply power to electric locomotives was installed in the 1930s.
Some of the bridge machinery was updated in 1931. Minor repairs were made in the 1970s, and major repairs to structural, mechanical and electrical equipment were completed as part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor Improvement Project between 1982 and 1984.[citation needed] Timbers were replaced in 2019.
Commuter rail traffic is carried over the swing bridge. Rail service is currently at capacity, having grown from 40,000 daily passengers in 2005 to 150,000 to 200,000 daily passengers in 2015 on approximately 450 daily trains for Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.
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Portal Bridge
The Portal Bridge is a two-track rotating swing-span railroad bridge over the Hackensack River in Kearny and Secaucus, New Jersey, United States. It is on the Northeast Corridor just west of Secaucus Junction and east of the Sawtooth Bridges. Owned and operated by Amtrak and used extensively by NJ Transit, it is the busiest train span in the Western Hemisphere, carrying between 150,000 and 200,000 passengers per day on approximately 450 daily trains (an average of one train every two minutes during the day).
Opened in November 1910, the bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in conjunction with service to the newly constructed Pennsylvania Station in New York City. It is 961 feet (293 m) long. The average bridge clearance of 20 feet (6.1 m) (depending on the tide) requires it to swing open to allow maritime traffic to pass underneath it. By the 2000s, the Portal Bridge train speeds were limited to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).
Replacement of the bridge is the first phase of the Gateway Project. After initially refusing to provide any funding for the project, the first Trump administration allowed the project to move forward in February 2020. The bridge replacement is estimated to cost $1.8 billion. Funding comprises $811 million from the State of New Jersey, $766.5 million from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), $261.5 million from Amtrak and $57.1 million from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Construction of the new bridge was given final approval to proceed in April 2022 and later began on August 1, 2022. The first track on the new bridge, known as the Portal North Bridge, entered service on March 13, 2026, about two and a half days ahead of the planned opening on March 16. A catenary pole had failed on the old bridge, and NJT and Amtrak officials decided to shift rail traffic onto the new bridge early.
The bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad as part of its New York Tunnel Extension project, which also included the Sawtooth Bridges, North River Tunnels, and Manhattan Transfer station.
The Portal Bridge is a 961-foot (293 m) steel structure with masonry abutments. The bridge consists of a 300-foot (91 m) through-truss swing span and six 110-foot-long (34 m) open-deck girder approach spans (three on each side of the center span). The bridge itself is partially made of wood.
Construction of the bridge was begun in August 1905, and the bridge was placed in service on November 27, 1910, based on bridge designs from the 1840s.[citation needed] The bridge was designed to last 100 years. Overhead catenary to supply power to electric locomotives was installed in the 1930s.
Some of the bridge machinery was updated in 1931. Minor repairs were made in the 1970s, and major repairs to structural, mechanical and electrical equipment were completed as part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor Improvement Project between 1982 and 1984.[citation needed] Timbers were replaced in 2019.
Commuter rail traffic is carried over the swing bridge. Rail service is currently at capacity, having grown from 40,000 daily passengers in 2005 to 150,000 to 200,000 daily passengers in 2015 on approximately 450 daily trains for Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.