World Cup fans to MetLife Stadium will pay $150 train fares - NJ Transit - ESPN

Sky-high ticket prices won't be the only thing emptying the wallets of soccer fans attending World Cup matches at some U.S. venues this spring.

Fans trying to get to MetLife Stadium from New York City can expect to shell out $150 for a round-trip train fare for each match, transportation officials confirmed Friday.

That's nearly 12 times the regular $12.90 fare for the roughly 15-minute, 9-mile ride from Manhattan's Penn Station to the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

On-site parking won't be available for most fans, so New Jersey officials anticipate that around 40,000 fans will use mass transit for each match.

The home stadium for both the NFL's New York Giants and New York Jets is set to host eight World Cup matches, including the tournament final on July 19. Group stage games for soccer powerhouses Brazil, France, Germany and England, along with other nations, begin June 13.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill has suggested the upcharge was necessary to ensure that her state's commuters weren't stuck with a «tab for years to come» for hosting the World Cup on its return to the U.S. for the first time since 1994.

NJ Transit officials said it would cost $62 million to transport fans to and from the stadium over the duration of the tournament, and that outside grants had defrayed only $14 million of those anticipated expenses.

«This isn't price gouging,» NJ Transit president and CEO Kris Kolluri told reporters Friday. «We're literally trying to recoup our costs.»

Taking public transit to World Cup matches in Boston's suburbs will also be costly.

Express buses from various locations to Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL's New England Patriots, will cost $95, officials announced this week.

And thousands of fans have