Football fans trying to get to MetLife Stadium from New York City for the World Cup matches this summer will have to pay $150 (€127) for a round-trip, according to local transportation officials.
The price is almost 12 times higher than the usual $12.90 fare for the 15-minute trip from Penn Station in Manhattan to the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
"We are going to charge $150 for our roundtrip ticket on our system. So from New York to MetLife, MetLife back to New York," said Kris Kolluri, the president and CEO of NJ Transit.
NJ Transit officials said they planned to spend $62 million on transportation for fans traveling to and from the stadium during the tournament. However, only $14 million of those anticipated expenses had been defrayed by outside grants.
A fare increase was needed to cover the rest, according to Kolluri.
"This isn't price gouging," he told reporters. "We're literally trying to recoup our costs."
Driving to the stadium will be even more expensive. According to the Just Park site, limited parking options will be available at the stadium for fans with disabilities and at an adjacent mall for other supporters. Prices start at $225 per parking space.
US politicians and FIFA trade blame
New Jersey's recently sworn-in governor, Mikie Sherrill, defended the state transit organization's policies on X, saying that "FIFA put zero dollars towards transporting World Cup fans."
She called on the international football's governing body to cover the transportation costs. "If it won't, we will not be subsidizing World Cup ticket holders on the backs of New Jerseyans who rely on NJ TRANSIT every day," Sherrill said in a statement.
On Tuesday, as initial reports emerged, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also wrote on social media that FIFA should foot the bill for transport costs to World Cup venues.
However, FIFA's World Cup chief operating officer Heimo Schirgi said the move to "arbitrarily set elevated prices and demand FIFA absorb these costs is unprecedented."
FIFA also pointed out that other US host cities, including Los Angeles, Dallas, and Houston, are maintaining their transit rates.
Boston is one notable exception. Officials announced this week that express buses from various locations to Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL's New England Patriots, will cost $95.
Fans call World Cup prices 'insane' and 'astronomical'
The MetLife Stadium will host eight World Cup matches, including the final on July 19. The group stage matches will include teams from football powerhouses Brazil, France, Germany, and England.
A French "Irresistibles Francais" fan organization called the train ticket pricing "completely insane."
"Every day there's bad news about transportation," said Guillaume Aupretre, a spokesman for the group. "You really have to wonder how far this madness is going to go."
Meanwhile, England's Football Supporters' Association (FSA) chief Thomas Concannon told the BBC "Every single thing coming out of this tournament so far is just fans getting fleeced."
"The price is obviously astronomical in terms of what you would expect to pay going to a match," he said. "We weren't expecting to be gouged."
Earlier, fan organizations expressed outrage over the exorbitant price of World Cup match tickets.
