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Recent tunnel fires stoke fears about a World Cup transit meltdown
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jun 5, 2026
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Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Jun 5, 2026
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This column originally appeared in On The Way, a weekly newsletter covering everything you need to know about NYC-area transportation.
Sign up to get the full version, which includes answers to reader questions, trivia, service changes and more, in your inbox every Thursday.
Tens of thousands of World Cup fans are counting on Amtrak’s infrastructure to get them safely to World Cup games starting on June 13.
But bad news, soccer fans: Amtrak train tunnels that connect MetLife Stadium through Penn Station have been on fire in the last month. Twice.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber, who’s grown increasingly frustrated with Amtrak following major disruptions to service, ranted last Friday that he doesn’t even know who’s in charge anymore.
“ When you see impacts like we are seeing in New York right now, you say, ‘What is going on at Amtrak?’ We need some assurance that this isn't gonna keep happening again and again and again,” Lieber said.
Last month there were two major incidents in which Amtrak tunnels caught fire, resulting in major train delays into and out of Penn Station that left commuters scrambling.
A fire during the World Cup could be a logistical nightmare. NJ Transit is planning to sell 40,000 tickets — for $98 each — for roundtrip journeys from Penn through those Amtrak tunnels to MetLife Stadium.
Riders have a four-hour window to catch a train, but that’s only if trains are running. NJ referred questions about service during the games to Amtrak.
Amtrak’s upper ranks have been in turmoil, even with the high-stakes global event on the horizon.
Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner stepped down in March, reportedly after being pushed out by the White House. Amtrak is owned by the federal government but is run as a for-profit corporation. Amtrak President Roger Harris has been in charge since. He’s expected to leave in July.
Amtrak is in charge of the Hudson River tunnel – a single choke point for trains trying to get in and out of Penn Station. If one of the two train tunnels is down, major delays result.
“Amtrak is fully committed to ensuring a safe and seamless World Cup experience for fans traveling throughout the New York-New Jersey region,” Executive Vice President Chief Operations Officer Gery Williams wrote in a statement. “We have been planning with our partners for years, including developing mitigation plans, putting contingencies in place to protect safety, security, and service reliability, and investing approximately $30 million to improve our infrastructure and address specific locations that could be at risk with heavy usage.”
Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams added that the agency has done preventative inspections ahead of the games and will have crews standing by across the Northeast Corridor, ready to respond to “any unforeseen track or catenary incident.”
Those catenary wires — which are suspended above the trains and transmit electrical power — are the site of recurring problems in the tunnel to Penn.
Last Friday, in the early hours of the morning, a contractor for Amtrak was cleaning the ballast under the tracks when the work truck caught fire near the Hudson River tunnels, damaging signals and NJ Transit’s overhead catenary wires. One of the two tubes under the Hudson had to be shut down, severely disrupting NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road service.
Earlier last month, a fire in the East River tunnels — which are also owned by Amtrak — shut down two out of four tunnels. Construction is underway in the third tunnel, so all of Amtrak and LIRR were left with only one tunnel, leading to widespread delays.
Luckily for Amtrak the pressure was off because that’s when LIRR workers went on strike. It still took days to repair the damage.
The pressure will most certainly be on in the coming weeks, as New York City’s infrastructure enters the spotlight. In an ominous sign, NJ Transit halted all service on Sunday when it discovered a fire on the roof of its rail control center in Kearny.
Natalie Hamilton, a spokesperson for the World Cup host committee, wrote that there are contingency plans in place. If trains face delays, they have a backup: 485 buses will be standing by, ready to roll.
“Now, with the world’s eyes on us, transportation to the Meadowlands (and [hundreds of thousands] of riders’ daily commutes) is totally dysfunctional, and possibly a looming humanitarian disaster,” Ryan Williams with NJ StreetsPAC said in a statement.
NYC transportation news this week
- The skincare bus bust. A free intra-Brooklyn shuttle bus service launched by skincare company The Ordinary ceased operating just days after it started, possibly due to a lack of proper permitting. The buses offered free rides between Williamsburg and Prospect Park and were supposed to run through June 9.
- Mamdani’s MTA board pick. Janette Sadik-Khan, a former New York City transportation commissioner who was a key architect of the city’s bike lane network and current streetscape, is Mamdani’s choice to fill one of two vacant seats on the MTA board.
- Traffic sensor expansion. The city’s transportation department said that after a successful pilot program using 20 sensors that monitor pedestrian, cyclist and driver behavior, the devices will soon be installed at 100 locations around the city.
- 34th Street busway. Mayor Mamdani said this week that work on the 34th Street busway, which will resemble the one along 14th Street, will resume despite the Trump administration's warnings to halt the project.
Curious Commuter
Have a question for us? Use this form to submit yours and we may answer it in a future newsletter!
Question from Diane in Manhattan:
Why does the AirTrain only have one operational track? For as long as I can remember, I have only seen one track operational. The system is relatively new and I’m curious the reason.
Answer
What you might be noticing is that the AirTrain typically pulls in on the same side every time you board at either Howard Beach-JFK or Jamaica stations and head to the airport. But it is typical for both tracks to operate during the day time for the trains headed in both directions — it just might seem like one track since you’re always boarding on the same side. The Port Authority said it typically closes down one of the tracks during late nights between 11 p.m. to 10 a.m. for maintenance work, which also aligns with longer headways.
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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