NJ Transit and Amtrak trade public warnings as the $48 million World Cup transit plan rolls out. Commuters face rerouted or terminated service for eight matches, and the surveillance infrastructure installed for security will remain after the tournament ends.
New Jersey Transit has hundreds of buses on standby, two ferries as maritime backup, and a $48 million operations bill for eight World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium, according to the agency's operational plan and Governor Mikie Sherrill. The first match, Brazil versus Morocco, took place on Saturday without a transit collapse. NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri spent the days before it telling Amtrak that they would bear the blame for their infrastructure failures.
The warning came one day after Amtrak overhead wire issues on June 9 delayed commuters up to 45 minutes during the evening rush.
"I assure you, we've been on the phone with Amtrak to make sure that doesn't happen again," Kolluri said at a press conference Wednesday. "The moment there is a challenge on Amtrak, we will pivot to a contingency."
He already has the contingencies lined up: hundreds of buses, two ferries, and what Kolluri called "a bigger boat" — maritime backup he ordered after the June 9 delays. But the warning documents a structural reality. Amtrak owns the Northeast Corridor tracks, wires, and tunnels. If that infrastructure fails during a match, Kolluri wants a record showing the fault lies with the owner, not the operator running on it.
"Heed my warning. I'll have no problem telling the world if Amtrak fails," Kolluri said on Wednesday. The following day he added, "I won't let NJ Transit take the blame for something we didn't."
Amtrak Accuses NJ Transit of False Blame
Amtrak responded in kind. During a media briefing Thursday, Amtrak Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer Gery Williams accused NJ Transit of falsely blaming "Amtrak police activity" for a contractor delay on the Portal North Bridge project: a $1.56 billion span that opened in March after years of construction. Williams said NJ Transit "gets a yellow card when it comes to telling the truth about recent events" and should not take "a page out of Janno's playbook," referencing MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber, who has publicly criticized Amtrak's infrastructure reliability in separate press conferences.
"If something goes wrong, their first instinct is to blame us. That's not right," Williams said. "We are partners and teammates in passenger rail," he added. That framing ignores the structural reality that Amtrak owns the tracks, wires and tunnels, NJ Transit needs all three to move trains.
The partnership is under stress, and under federal scrutiny. U.S. Representative Frank Pallone Jr. (D, NJ-06) sent a letter to Amtrak President Roger Harris on Thursday demanding urgent action after weeks of Northeast Corridor disruptions. A May 29 fire involving an Amtrak contractor vehicle in the Hudson River tunnels suspended rail traffic for 12 hours and injured five people. Residual catenary wire issues and lingering repairs continue to disrupt service, Pallone wrote.
"Amtrak has had years to prepare for this historic event, and we're concerned that you are turning the ball over at the very last minute," Pallone said. "Millions of fans and commuters are counting on you to get this right."
Commuters Pay in Lost Time and Rerouted Trains
The commuters are already paying in lost time and rerouted trains. Beginning 4 hours before each match, NJ Transit will halt all outbound commuter rail service from Penn Station New York. The Penn Station-to-Secaucus Junction segment will be limited to World Cup ticket holders during that window. For 3 hours after each match, trains to New York on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast, Raritan Valley, Morris & Essex, and Montclair-Boonton lines will terminate at Newark Penn Station or Newark Broad Street. PATH trains and buses run at no extra cost, but commuters on those lines face rerouted or terminated service on eight separate dates. The NJ Department of Transportation launched a traffic advisory toolkit warning that congestion will peak from 5 hours before kickoff to 5 hours after.
Governor Sherrill, who took office in January 2026, said her administration inherited an agreement where FIFA provides "$0 for transportation to the World Cup — zero."
"That leaves New Jersey Transit with a $48 million bill to safely get 40,000 fans to and from every game," Sherrill said. "I won't stick New Jersey's commuters with that tab for years to come."
FIFA's chief operating officer, Heimo Schirgi, has countered that the organization is a non-profit and that other host cities arranged $2.50 round-trip fares. But no public record shows a direct FIFA payment to NJ Transit for operations. Kolluri said in May that the state reduced the rail ticket price from $150 to $98 through corporate sponsors, higher-than-anticipated advertising revenue and federal grants.
NJ Transit is offering 3 percent discounts on June monthly passes with New York as an origin or destination, 5 percent on weekly passes that include June 22 and 30, and 20 percent on mobile app tickets from June 21 through June 30 with a promotion code. As of early June, the agency had sold roughly 18,000 rail tickets across all eight games, about 5.5 percent of the 320,000 available. Kolluri said in mid-May that early sales were "on pace" and that FIFA fans often purchase transportation closer to match day. The hundreds of buses and two ferries are contingencies for infrastructure failure or demand overflow, and not a replacement for rail service. Fans who do not buy rail tickets will need other means to reach the stadium: shuttle, rideshare, or limited premium parking.
Security for the Games, Infrastructure for the Long Term
The security deployment is massive. The NJ State Police will deploy 600 officers at MetLife Stadium daily, with 1,000 on game days, as part of a broader 1,200-trooper deployment across all World Cup sites and events, according to the New Jersey Monitor. The State Police, alongside the Office of the Attorney General, also launched a real-time safety app for fans. Amtrak is deploying more than 90 officers in the New York-New Jersey region on game days. Chief Safety Officer Steve Predmore called it the largest security deployment in the Amtrak Police Department's history. The department has 400 officers nationwide.
The infrastructure is not all temporary. The NJ Department of Transportation installed Ouster BlueCity traffic monitors at more than 42 highway locations for the World Cup, according to Ouster, integrating them into the state's permanent traffic management system. The sensors will remain after the tournament ends July 19. Ouster, a San Francisco-based Nasdaq-traded company, listed "scalability potential" and "long-term adoption" as key business metrics in its press release, terms that suggest the deployment is a template for other state DOTs. The 2025 contract went to Ouster and its distribution partner, Signal Control Products. NJBallot found no source documenting a public comment period, legislative hearing, or privacy impact assessment specifically for the Ouster BlueCity installation.
The traffic monitors are one layer. The coordination platform is another. Frankie Millheim, the state's GIS coordinator, built a unified digital map that pulls data from cameras and sensors on railways, roadways and airports, according to Police1. That system works alongside a common operating system that officials created in 18 months ahead of the 2025 Club World Cup. Police1 called the policing model "the most durable legacy" of the World Cup — one that will outlast the tournament.
Meanwhile, Amtrak's leadership is in flux. President Roger Harris announced in May that he would resign effective July 31, less than two weeks after the final match. The Trump administration had previously pressured CEO Stephen Gardener to resign in March 2025. William "Byl" Herrmann, the railroad's executive vice president for legal and human resources, will become interim president when Harris departs. MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said publicly this spring, "I don't even know who's running Amtrak anymore."
The next match is Tuesday: France versus Senegal. NJ Transit will run trains every 5 minutes from New York Penn Station, carrying up to 1,200 people per train, Kolluri said. The buses line up outside Penn Station. Both executives have traded public warnings this week that create documented blame trails if the Northeast Corridor fails. The ferries are on standby.
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• Triple Threat for NJ Transit: Penn Station Fires, Knicks Finals, and World Cup (May 30, 2026)
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