World Cup boosted train ridership, but the financial picture's unclear
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The Northeast saw a boost in train ridership during the World Cup, from Amtrak rides to and from Boston to the Commuter Rail to Foxborough.
The big picture: State and federal officials consider the ridership increase a win, but it remains to be seen whether these public transit systems actually profited from the international tournament.
State of rail: Amtrak saw a roughly 9% increase in ridership out of the Boston area last month compared to June 2025, says Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesperson.
- The agency attributed much of that traffic to soccer fans hopping from city to city during the FIFA tournament.
- Determining ridership increases for the Commuter Rail trains to Foxborough is trickier because the special train service only runs around major events at Gillette.
- The MBTA and Keolis Commuter Services did say that the World Cup trains set a new record.
What they're saying: The World Cup traffic was a one-off, but Amtrak is banking on converting first-time domestic passengers into regulars after the tournament.
- "What we're hoping is that the people who've not ridden us before … who've had a chance to ride us to these matches will come back and say that was a better way than I-95," Magliari tells Axios.
Stunning stat: The Commuter Rail sold 10 times as many round-trip tickets for the World Cup matches as it did for the 2023 Army-Navy game, which held the last ridership record at 11,000.
By the numbers: The Commuter Rail sold nearly 109,000 round-trip tickets between South Station and Foxborough from June 13 to July 9.
- Keolis and the MBTA charged $80 a ticket, which translates to $8.7 million in revenue from those tickets alone.
- Amtrak reported 410,000 passengers. That includes the South Station, North Station, Back Bay and Route 128 stops.
Yes, but: The Commuter Rail also added more signage, deployed 700 workers to the train system on match days and set up queues at South Station and a temporary field maintenance facility in Mansfield, per the governor's office.
Reality check: Gov. Maura Healey and Interim Transportation Secretary Phil Eng called the World Cup a transit success, at least operationally.
- But it's not clear yet whether the train accommodations, which disrupted weekday commutes, were an economic win for the state.
What's next: The MBTA plans to present its post-tournament findings in September.