New Jersey World Cup Games Will Have a $150 Train and $80 Bus

NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey authorities and World Cup organizers said Friday that the main modes of transportation to get to MetLife Stadium during the FIFA tournament will cost $150 round-trip by train and $80 by shuttle bus.

New Jersey Transit, the New York/New Jersey World Cup host committee, and other local organizers held a press briefing in Newark on Friday to unveil security and transit information for the eight matches at MetLife Stadium this summer.

NJ Transit is expecting to move 28,000 people from New York’s Penn Station to MetLife Stadium on match days. The other 12,000 expected riders would come from other parts of New Jersey. All will be charged $150 for their roundtrip ticket. NJ Transit says it will give riders a wristband on the way to the stadium, and fans won’t be allowed back on the train without it.

If New Jersey Transit is able to sell 40,000 round-trip train tickets per match for $150 each, that would wipe out the entire $48 million cost estimated by state officials.

The New York/New Jersey World Cup host committee will also offer a round-trip shuttle bus for 10,000 fans per match, with tickets costing $80 each.

Kris Kolluri, president and CEO NJ Transit, confirmed that his agency won’t be running westbound trains out of New York City’s Penn Station for four hours before match time, potentially inconveniencing commuters.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill took aim at FIFA this week saying the soccer governing body should step up to cover some of the transportation costs. FIFA responded back saying it was “quite surprised by the NJ Governor’s approach.” Sherrill said she does not want her regular commuters to bear the cost of World Cup service.

The cost of traveling on NJ Transit to an event at MetLife from New York’s Penn Station normally costs $12.90.

Kolluri said Friday that the total cost for NJ Transit to transport World Cup fans would be $62 million, but $10.6 million of that will be offset by the federal government, and an additional $3.6 million came from the host committee on Thursday, which brought the bill down to $48 million.

“Commuters in New Jersey should not carry the costs years into the future for a wonderful event, no doubt, but the fans that are going to the games should bear the cost, and that’s all we’re trying to say,” Kolluri said.

The tickets represent yet another cost for fans attending the tournament. FIFA’s dynamic pricing model has sent match tickets skyrocketing, including charging more than $10,000 for some seats at the July 19 final in New Jersey.

New Jersey’s $150 train ticket surpasses even Boston’s $80 train for its seven World Cup matches. Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority anticipates 20,000 fans will take the train to Foxborough those games, half of the ridership expected in New Jersey.

The host committee’s shuttle bus will originate from two locations in New York City—Port Authority and east of Grand Central Station—and a park-and-ride location in New Jersey at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.