Train Service Resumes Monday, November 28 on the Port Jervis Line

The rebuilding effort of the Port Jervis Line by Metro-North should result in resumption of full train service on Monday November 28—one full month earlier and at a substantially lower cost than originally expected. “Metro-North appreciates the patience of its 2,300 Port Jervis Line customers during the past few months,” said Metro-North President Howard Permut. “We want them to come back to the railroad so customers who buy a December monthly Port Jervis Line ticket can ride for free for the last three days of November. It’s a small way to say welcome back.”

“We look forward to providing you with the same level of train service that you previously expected,” Permut added.  “The interim train-bus-train shuttle service we provided, while effective, was not nearly as convenient as a one-seat ride from Port Jervis to Hoboken.”

Customers who have been crossing the river to use the Hudson Line also can use their November Hudson Line monthly from any Port Jervis Line station for the last three days of the November. And customers who purchased a November monthly from Ramsey-Route 17 will be able to use it from any Port Jervis Line station. Metro-North trains return to a full schedule of 26 daily trains and 14 trains each weekend day.

While through train service will resume, not all track repairs will be completed by November 28. However, given the tremendous progress made by Metro-North’s employees and contractors, the original estimate for completion of all Port Jervis Line repairs has been moved forward from fall 2012 to June 2012.

“I’m also happy to report that the cost of repairs, substitute bus service and lost revenue is roughly half of the $60 million that we originally expected,” Permut noted. The current estimate is between $30 million and $40 million.

“Metro-North also is grateful for the cooperation it got from NJTRANSIT, which accommodated our customers at Ramsey/Route 17, and to Orange County, Leprechaun Lines and especially MTA Bus, which established a whole new bus company in about a week,” Permut added.

Compared to the pre-storm schedule, running times for Port Jervis line trains will slightly longer to accommodate continuing track work. Travel time for inbound trains to Hoboken/New York-Penn Station is three minutes longer; while travel time for outbound trains to Port Jervis is up to 7 minutes longer.

The additional running time is due to speed restrictions in place for three and a half miles of track between Suffern and Harriman and because only one of the two tracks between Suffern and Sloatsburg is being returned to service on November 28th and all trains in both directions have to use one track in that section. These changes as well as speed restrictions will be removed in January, when the remaining track work that impacts train schedules should be completed. Metro-North will return to its pre-storm schedule on January 15.

Three trains in particular have schedule changes because there is only one track in service between Suffern and Sloatsburg:

– The 9:20 a.m. weekday inbound train from Port Jervis to Hoboken will operate 26 minutes earlier. It will now depart 8:54 a.m.

– The 8:21 a.m. weekday outbound train from Hoboken to Port Jervis will operate 17 minutes later, now departing Hoboken at 8:38 a.m.

– The 9:30 a.m. weekend train departing Hoboken for Port Jervis will be held for 20 minutes between Salisbury Mills and Campbell Hall to allow an eastbound train to pass.