Tuesday’s first weekday FIFA World Cup match at MetLife Stadium is set to throw Penn Station into a different kind of rush, with access restricted from 10:30 a.m. and regular NJ Transit rail service suspended for several hours while fans are moved toward the stadium. The match between France and Senegal begins at 3 p.m. in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the changes are designed to keep World Cup traffic moving while commuters are diverted around the station.
For readers searching for France Vs Senegal tickets, the reason is simple: the match is not happening on a weekend, when transit pressure is easier to absorb. It is happening on a Tuesday afternoon, right in the middle of the workday, and officials expect the biggest strain to hit as fans and commuters overlap around Penn Station. That is why the station’s normal pattern breaks down early, before kickoff, and why the transportation plan matters long before the first whistle.
Beginning at 10:30 a.m., World Cup ticket holders will be steered to designated NJ Transit loading zones on Sixth Avenue at West 32nd and West 33rd streets. Commuters using the Long Island Rail Road, Amtrak or the subway system will still be able to reach Penn Station through entrances on West 34th Street at Seventh and Eighth avenues, but only in a narrower window of access. NJ Transit will suspend regular rail service from Penn Station from 10:30 a.m. through 2:30 p.m., and during that stretch the trains leaving the station will be carrying ticket holders to MetLife Stadium instead of daily riders heading home.
That is the part of the plan that makes Tuesday unusual. The same transit infrastructure that World Cup fans will use to reach the match is being pulled away from regular NJ Transit riders at the exact time those riders would normally be moving through the system. Those heading into New Jersey are being told to use PATH service or travel through Hoboken Terminal or Newark Penn Station, while New York state is offering $20 shuttle bus service from Port Authority Bus Terminal to MetLife Stadium. The bus and shuttle corridor along 42nd Street will run from First Avenue to 12th Avenue, the two easternmost lanes of Sixth Avenue between West 42nd and West 59th streets will be reserved for buses and shuttles, and additional street closures will affect parts of West 40th and West 41st streets near the terminal.
Justin Brannan put the warning bluntly, saying it is not going to be a normal Sunday Jets game and telling people not to drive to MetLife. He said officials want people to be ready, buy a bus or train ticket and avoid bringing a car into the stadium area. Transportation officials are also urging commuters to allow extra travel time, consider alternate routes and watch service alerts. For anyone trying to move through New York City and New Jersey on Tuesday, the safest assumption is that Penn Station will work, but only on the day’s terms.
