A successful ongoing rebuilding effort on the New York's Metro-North Port Jervis Line has expedited the resumption of full service by an entire month, with through trains now set to begin on November 28, Metro-North President Howard Permut announced.

Since the end of August, when flooding associated with Tropical Storm Irene devastated 14 miles of the Port Jervis Line, track repairs have been underway by Metro-North's own workforce. The progress of this effort has been so great that the amount of work that still needs to be done by a third-party contractor has been significantly reduced.

In addition, the cost of repairs, substitute bus service and lost revenue currently is estimated between $30 million and $40 million, less than the original $60 million estimate.

When service begins again, Metro-North trains will return to the full pre-storm schedule of 26 daily trains and 14 trains each weekend day and the interim train-bus-train service will cease.