Getting to Metlife Stadium for the World Cup: Contingency boats, $98 trains and VIP bus lanes
New Jersey Transit, the state public transportation provider, has two 600-person boats on standby as part of a contingency plan should issues emerge in the rail system on World Cup matchdays.
The contingency plan also has hundreds of buses on standby should infrastructure issues blight the NJ Transit rail service between New York Penn Station in Manhattan and Metlife Stadium in New Jersey.
NJ Transit has set a price of $98 for the service, a huge markup on the usual $12.90 which is ordinarily charged for the service. The price was originally set at $150, until sponsors stepped in to help bring down the cost, but it remains over seven times higher than usual.
New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill directed NJ Transit not to offset any of the cost onto ordinary commuters or state taxpayers, instead transferring the cost to World Cup match-goers. FIFA described the prices as “chilling”, while Gov. Sherrill publicly questioned why the organization, which stands to make $11 billion from this World Cup, would not help cities with public transportation costs.
Sherill has questioned FIFA’s approach to transport costs at the World Cup (Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images)
There has been anxiety in the region over transportation to MetLife Stadium, with the scars over the mass public transit failures to take fans to and from the Super Bowl in 2014.
The Athletic has been told by multiple sources familiar with the planning that for the match between Brazil and Morocco at MetLife Stadium on Saturday night, Gov. Sherrill intends to travel to the game by taking the train, with a state official confirming: “She wants to use the system that is the fastest and most efficient to get to the game.”
Gov. Sherrill may have been locked in a war of words with FIFA but The Athletic has also learned, via two sources familiar with the conversations, that her office has requested to do the coin toss before one of the games at MetLife during the World Cup, to reflect New Jersey’s role hosting eight games in the competition, as well as the final. A spokesperson declined to comment.
A coin toss in soccer is ordinarily performed by the referee with the team captains and it remains to be seen if that request is granted. Both New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York governor Kathy Hochul are also expected to attend the match.
The importance of the rail service is also further ramped up because, while there are ordinarily 23,000 car parking spaces available at the venue, this number will be vastly lower during the tournament, owing to the security demands and space requirements of the games.
The burden also falls on Amtrak, the national agency which runs Penn Station and operates the Northeast Corridor line used by NJ Transit trans to take people to and from New York.
The boats would come into play in the event of issues with the rail service after games to take people from Weehawken, New Jersey, back into Manhattan. The ferries will be available to NJ Transit for four hours after each game. NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri told The Athletic this will cost the agency $134,400 across the eight games.
Within the transportation plan, it is anticipated that 40,000 passengers will travel by rail. As of Thursday, just over 14,000 tickets had been sold, which included 4,000 employees.
Eight World Cup matches, including the final – right here in New Jersey. pic.twitter.com/BaqGWHJ5lU
— Governor Mikie Sherrill (@GovSherrillNJ) June 12, 2026
The New York/New Jersey host committee, aided by $6 million in funding from Hochul, is also offering a $20 round trip bus shuttle service, incorporating yellow school buses, with 18,000 seats available on non-school day games, compared to 12,000 on school days. As of Thursday at 4pm, 12,085 tickets for this service had been purchased for Saturday’s game between Brazil and Morocco.
Sources at Port Authority, the bi-state transportation agency, also told The Athletic that there will be a special lane reserved for exclusive use by FIFA-permitted vehicles, which may be anything from teams, referees, or FIFA-designated VIPs on the approach to the Lincoln Tunnel, which connects Manhattan to New Jersey.
This will be via 9th Avenue and 36th St. while general traffic is asked to utilize the Lincoln Tunnel entrance at 30th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues or at 11th Avenue and 40th Street.
There will also be an exclusive line in one of the tubes of the tunnel both before and after games to allow buses to be prioritized to ensure a faster service for fans taking the shuttle buses.
