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As part of the package of fare hikes and service cuts NJ Transit unveiled in April, weekend and holiday service on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail will change for good beginning this Saturday, meaning a longer trip for some Heights residents heading to New York City.

The streamlining of the train routes leaves the light rail with two distinct, but overlapping lines on weekends and holidays: between Hoboken Terminal and 22nd Street/Bayonne and between Tonnelle Avenue and West Side Avenue.

Trains originating at Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, which come through Hoboken at 9th and 2nd Streets, serving many Heights residents, will no longer go to Hoboken Terminal. Instead, all weekend and holiday trains on that line will go first to Pavonia/Newport, before continuing on the southern rail spur out to West Side Avenue.

For a Heights resident heading to New York City on the 6th Avenue PATH line, that means a slightly longer trip (one minute longer, according to timetables) from 2nd Street to Pavonia/Newport than the one to Hoboken. But more importantly, because of the PATH train’s weekend schedule, that rider would then have to come back through Hoboken Terminal for a stop before making his or her way into New York City.

The change also means that anyone traveling from the West Side Avenue, Martin Luther King Drive or Garfield Avenue stops to Hoboken will have to change trains at Pavonia/Newport.

If you have questions about the service changes, you can call NJ Transit customer service at 973-275-5555.