when it comes to shuttling thousands of amped up fans for the 2026 World Cup final New Jersey Transit says bring it the Statewide rail agency believes it's ready to handle the massive International crowd expected for the game the Murphy Administration this week pledged NJT is different than a decade ago when throngs of frustrated fans were left stranded at the metaland stadium after the Super Bowl plus he said millions of dollars of infrastructure upgrades will be added between now and the fin commuter Advocates say they're frustrated the state is able to find the money for improvements when it comes to a major event but not for daily trips taken by everyday residents senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports Delirious cheers from Jersey movers and shakers greeted FIFA's selection of MetLife Stadium for the 2026 World Cup final game but that's only the kickoff now comes the real challenge when more than 80 thousand hyped up soccer fans descend on the metal lands NJ Transit will have to bring its aame no no it's it's critical it's critical to the success of the of the games it's critical to the success and the experience that we deliver to visitors that may be coming here for the first time Jim kirkos heads the meand Chamber of Commerce and says both the venue and the event present unusual and complex problems including the lack of walkways to the stadium you can't you can't stay at a hotel on Patterson Plank Road and walk into the complex you still need to be transported into the complex right remember too there are security measures and and sometimes the security entities Place some restrictions on how quickly and how we can move people in and out of the secure Zone NJ Transit tweeted it can't wait to take customers to the FIFA World Cup final its metal lands rail service can move about 10,000 people an hour in or out of the venue to the the rail Junction in sakas but it's made some spectacular fumbles like the 2014 Super Bowl and WrestleMania 2019 stranding angry crowds for hours back then Governor Murphy vowed we're fixing it but I I we're going to learn from this and and and I'll be damned if it happens again Murphy says the agency's redeemed itself lately handling the Taylor Swift and K-pop concert crowds with relative agility and NJ transits planning to build a new metal land Transit way it'll run along government-owned land including the turnpike and move 12,000 people an hour for 7 miles between the sakaka train station and MetLife Stadium planning Advocates say performance will be crucial while ngj Transit did a really good job during Taylor Swift and Beyonce and those are huge events they still pale in comparison to the size of a worldwide event like World Cup it's a dramatically different NJ Transit today than it was 10 years ago that's the short and simple reason and it will be yet again even uh Stronger in 2 and 1/2 years so just see a consistent performance in and whatever energies that NJ Transit put into what I just said it'll be that on steroids two time clocks are ticking here and NJ Transit spokesman says that the transit ways slated for completion and plenty of time for the World Cup meanwhile the agency's facing a looming fiscal cliff what new jerseyans deserve is good and reliable and expanded Transportation options not just for the World Cup but all year long to get to work to get to school to get to where they need to go public transit Advocates have called on lawmakers to address NJ transit's budget woes by enacting a dedicated funding source they also point out that on any given day the system can encounter problems that would be embarrassing during a World Cup event attended by folks with superb mass transit there's going to be a lot of people that have that are flooding Northern New Jersey that have seen what good bus system and transit system looks like and they're going to be comparing it to what they br in back home an NJ Transit spokesman stated it's much too premature to share specific details regarding the operational plan however please be assured that the planning is well underway and NJ transit's confident that the travel experience to and from MetLife Stadium will meet and exceed the expectations of all those choosing to use public transit for Kirk host NJ transit's performance can make or break this opportunity uh and and if we're going to continue to utilize and leverage the fact that we're hosting eight games and the World Cup final to continue to bring visitors back to our region to stay play eat shop and visit uh then then their experience and being able to move around then obviously on game days the experience of Mobility uh is good at the lands I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight news