MTA Metro-North Railroad timetables change on Monday, August 30 to accommodate a major, multi-year Connecticut Department of Transportation catenary and bridge improvement project on the New Haven Line.

The work involves the replacement of the 100-year-old overhead catenary wires that supply power to trains as well as the reconstruction of five rail bridges in this critical section of the New Haven Line.

The schedule change will affect most peak-hour trains on the New Haven Line. Harlem and Hudson schedules will also have some minor adjustments to accommodate this work, since all three lines share tracks between Grand Central and the Bronx.

On the new haven Line, two of four tracks will be continually out of service between Southport and Bridgeport, limiting track capacity. As a result, many peak-hour New Haven Line trains (including some modification to Shore Line East trains) will operate up to 6 minutes earlier or up to 14 minutes later. Also, station stops made by some trains will change.

There will also be track outages that will require customers to board trains from temporary platforms, and occasionally from opposite-side platforms. Metro-North and CTDOT worked together in an effort to limit the project's impacts on providing reliable train service.

As part of this effort, trains will be using the new interlocking at Southport, which was built to mitigate more significant schedule impacts.

The improvements to the catenary system, bridges and signals will ultimately result in a more reliable service.