March 27, 2026
Provided image/SEPTA
Train service will temporarily pause along a section of the Norristown High Speed Line starting Sunday, as construction begins on the Bridgeport Viaduct.
SEPTA will pause train service on a section of the Norristown High Speed Line this weekend as it begins work repairing and upgrading an aging bridge.
Shuttle buses will operate between Bridgeport Station and Norristown Transit Center from Sunday through Saturday, May 9. Trains running between Bridgeport Station and 69th Street Transit Center will be unaffected. It's the first of several service outages planned to accommodate crews fixing the Bridgeport Viaduct, which carries the Norristown High Speed Line over the Schuylkill River.
The 3,525-foot-long bridge is the third longest in SEPTA's service network. Commuters make almost 1,900 trips across it each weekday.
Built in 1911, the viaduct now requires numerous structural repairs. The rehabilitation project will involve replacing the concrete deck, bearings, maintenance catwalk and stairway at Norristown Transit Center. Workers will also repair the structural steel and concrete in piers and abutments, and repaint the entire viaduct. Construction is expected to take about a year.
Transit officials said they will stagger the work in phases to avoid service outages this summer during the World Cup, MLB All-Star Game and semiquincentennial celebrations. The project, which will cost an estimated $55 million, is designed to extend the life of the Bridgeport Viaduct "for another 100 years," SEPTA board chair Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. said at a Friday news conference.
"That's a direct investment to benefit our regional economy and the communities we serve," he continued. "The project is a significant commitment at a time when our capital budget is severely constrained, but it's an investment that we must make."
SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer also acknowledged ongoing financial issues, noting the transit authority had scaled back or postponed 44 projects in its 12-year capital program due to inflation and insufficient funding from the state. The Bridgeport Viaduct repairs, he said, are an example of a "targeted investments" in "critical infrastructure" like tracks, power systems and bridges.
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