NEW YORK — The scheduled replacement of the moveable span of the Thames River Bridge, originally scheduled for June 14 through June 17, has been rescheduled for Monday, June 16, through Thursday, June 19.
As a result, virtually all regularly scheduled Amtrak service — including Acela Express trains — will operate Saturday and Sunday, June 14 and 15 throughout the New York-Boston region.
Because of the shift in plans, Amtrak has scheduled additional Boston-New Haven-New York Inland Route trains and some connecting bus service to bypass the bridge outage during the four-day period from June 16 through June 19.
Work on the 90-year-old drawbridge, which connects Groton and New London, Conn., was postponed two days due to unexpected complications encountered by Amtrak’s contractors in dismantling the old draw span’s massive concrete counterweight.
After more than two years of preparation and construction, Amtrak will install a new vertical lift span to replace the movable bascule portion of the bridge, marking the final stage of a multi-year, $83 million project designed to improve the reliability of the bridge, reduce the chance of operational failures, and minimize train delays.
During the four-day bridge outage, Amtrak will also undertake numerous track and signal maintenance projects between New Haven and Boston to provide smoother and more reliable passenger rail service.
