NJ Transit riders, including commuters using the North Jersey Coast Line from Ocean County, should prepare for several weeks of service changes beginning Sunday as Amtrak enters the final phase of transferring rail traffic onto the new Portal North Bridge.

Temporary schedules will take effect Sunday, October 11, and remain in place through Saturday, November 14, as crews transfer the second and final track from the 116-year-old Portal Bridge to the new bridge over the Hackensack River. Regular schedules are expected to resume November 15, subject to completion of safety testing.

The work will temporarily leave trains operating on a single track between Newark and Secaucus, resulting in fewer weekday trains operating into New York Penn Station on both the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line.

Ocean County riders will face an additional disruption. NJ Transit says maintenance on the movable Brielle railroad bridge will take place beginning October 11 and continue for approximately two weeks. During that work, buses will replace trains between Bay Head and Manasquan, affecting riders at the southern end of the North Jersey Coast Line.

NJ Transit is advising passengers to check the temporary schedules before traveling and allow additional time. The agency says nearly every rail line will see some combination of changed departure times, cancellations, consolidations or modified stopping patterns during the five-week construction period.

The work is part of the final transition to the new Portal North Bridge, which is intended to replace the aging swing bridge and improve reliability along one of the busiest sections of the Northeast Corridor.