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MTA Metro-North Railroad has begun assessing damage to the Port Jervis Line caused by Hurricane Irene.

Following New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman Jay Welder’s decision to invoke emergency powers to expedite rebuilding the line, an assessment of storm damage began last week and a final condition assessment report is expected by month’s end, Metro-North officials said in a prepared statement.

AECOM has begun a conditions analysis of track and structures along 14 of the hardest hit miles of the right of way, as well as a hydrology study of the area, they said. The firm’s sub-consultant SYSTRA is assessing all railroad communications and signal systems, while sub-consultant M.G. McLaren is assessing damage to rail bridges.

Meanwhile, the MTA has reopened the downtown side of the Cortlandt Street R subway station in time for ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City. The station’s northbound side reopened in 2009. MTA New York City Transit’s Cortlandt Station was significantly damaged when the World Trade Center’s twin towers collapsed during the terrorist attacks.