MTA’s Port Jervis line to reopen by year-end with $50 million in repairs

Massive repairs on the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Port Jervis Line, at an estimated cost of $50 million, will allow train service to resume by the end of the year, according to a damage assessment presented Sept. 26, at the MTA Metro-North Railroad committee meeting. The full pre-storm train schedule will be restored when the second track between Harriman and Suffern is finished in fall 2012. "We are committed to restoring the Port Jervis Line as quickly as possible. It is an important part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's regional network," said Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut. "In the meantime, Metro-North has marshaled the resources of MTA Bus to provide alternative service during reconstruction and Metro-North forces are building access roads to the tracks to literally lay the groundwork for the outside contractor. NJ Transit, Leprechaun Lines and MTA Bus have all been very helpful and cooperative in this crisis," Permut said. Metro-North will seek a contractor to rebuild the line, which was ravaged by floods during Tropical Storm Irene last month. An expedited bidding process is planned with a reconstruction contract to be awarded by October 15. The first priority is to restore train service on one track for the four miles between Suffern and Sloatsburg, which was double tracked, and on the 10 miles between Sloatsburg and Harriman, which is a single track. This includes rebuilding the track bed sub-grade, replacing stone in the washout areas, compacting the loose stone and surfacing the right-of-way. Also critical is repair work on the bridges that carry tracks over streams and roads and rebuilding the slopes adjacent to the river. The initial work will be performed jointly by a contractor working 24 hours a day, seven days a week and by Metro-North maintenance-of-way forces. The contract will be structured with financial incentives for early completion before the end of the year and penalties for delays in completion. With the slopes shored up, reconstruction of the second track between Suffern and Sloatsburg, repair of the signal system and long-term bridge repairs can be undertaken. Some of this work will have to wait until spring because it can't be done when temperatures are below freezing.