Commuters could be up a creek — yet again!
The problem-plagued New Jersey Transit system is readying two massive boats to ferry World Cup fans across the Hudson River to games in case of a meltdown on the rails, officials said.
The transportation agency — which normally only runs trains and buses — is turning to the Dunkirk-style backup plan with two 600-person vessels, New Jersey Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said at a press conference Wednesday evening.
In the event of a fire or electrical disaster, throngs of soccer fans leaving MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford Saturday can board the boats in Weehawken and sail to the Big Apple, a New Jersey Transit official told The Post.
The boat service, however, won’t be offered from New York City to New Jersey on the way to the game, he said.
“We’re going to need a bigger boat,” Kolluri recalled telling a top aide, echoing a famous movie line, after a recent fire at Penn Station, according to Politico.
“[We ordered] two boats at Weehawken with a capacity of about 600 people a boat in case again there’s a failure on the Amtrak corridor,” Kolluri said at the press conference.
The “contingency plan” comes after the beleaguered agency sparked outrage for initially charging a sky-high price of $150 for rides to the much-anticipated sporting event, then lowered it to $98.
It also comes as commuters have been frustrated in recent weeks by stallouts in the tunnel from Penn Station to New Jersey, including when a fire broke out at the major transit hub late last month.
Kolluri on Wednesday shifted blame to Amtrak, citing the national railroad system as the main reason for needing backup boats.
“It is no secret that the last couple weeks have been pretty rough on the Amtrak system,” he said. “They are the single point of failure if something were to happen on the system.”
“Without Amtrak, we will not be able to execute a proper plan for FIFA,” Kolluri said.
Problems at Penn Station and on the dozens of miles of track surrounding it have frustrated New Jersey commuters for months, with frequent service delays, last-minute cancellations and mechanical failure.
The problems could become a transit disaster on a world stage as soccer fans from all over the planet descend on the Big Apple for the World Cup match at MetLife Stadium in which Brazil will face off against Morocco on Saturday.
France and Senegal play at 3 p.m. Tuesday at MetLife and more games are scheduled at the East Rutherford complex through July.
https://nypost.com/2026/06/11/us-news/nj-transit-will-use-emergency-600-person-boats-for-world-cup/
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