Amtrak hosted a media conference call on Thursday, June 11, 2026 to discuss Amtrak’s preparations for World Cup transportation in the New York/New Jersey area and broader Northeast Corridor.
Top Three Takeaways
- Amtrak is ready for the World Cup after working closely with regional partners over the past several years to plan and prepare for this moment.
- Amtrak’s top priority is delivering safe, reliable service backed by $30 million in targeted infrastructure investments, additional police and support staff deployments, an aggressive fleet maintenance approach, and more.
- The priority of all partners should be to work together to resolve issues and serve our customers, rather than assigning blame as a default, especially when their facts are wrong.
Remarks by Amtrak Executive Vice President & Chief Operations Officer Gery Williams
Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Amtrak’s Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer Gery Williams. Thank you for taking the time on a Thursday afternoon to join today’s conference call.
The first World Cup game started one hour ago and we’re just over 24 hours from the first game in the US, and we can’t wait.
The World Cup presents a strong opportunity for Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT to highlight the strength of our partnership, trains, and infrastructure.
When it comes to the World Cup – our role is to ensure safe, reliable, and seamless travel to World Cup events, especially across the Northeast Corridor.
Amtrak is fully committed to ensuring a safe and seamless World Cup experience for fans traveling throughout the New York-New Jersey region.
We have been planning for this moment with our partners for years.
Our preparation work includes the continuation of increased maintenance and inspections, developing mitigation plans, and putting contingencies in place to protect safety, security, and service reliability.
This includes a multi-faceted approach on several levels across the entire company and country. Not just here in New Jersey and New York.
Additionally, Amtrak’s active participation in Host City Working Groups supports coordinated planning across transportation, security, and emergency response efforts.
For New York and New Jersey specifically, we have had strong engagement with the NYNJ Host Committee and NEC Commission, including an outage work plan to minimize disruptions.
In terms of service and operations, we have developed mitigation plans and put contingencies in place with an aggressive fleet preparedness approach over the past several months to ensure maximum reliability.
Furthermore, on World Cup game days, we’ll have additional crews standing by with their equipment across the Northeast Corridor to respond quickly and safely to any unforeseen track or catenary incident.
In terms of safety and security, the over 400 officers from our Amtrak Police Department will be deployed across the country.
In terms of infrastructure, we have invested approximately $30 million in recent improvements all over the network to address specific locations that could be at risk with heavy usage.
Finally, I’ll add this is a full, all-hands-on deck moment for our employees.
Train Operations, Track and Systems Maintenance, On Board Service and Station Staff, and volunteer ambassadors at stations will be working around the clock to help both our customers and our commuter railroad partners get to and from the game safely, reliably, and on-time.
And now, Steve Predmore, Amtrak’s Executive Vice President and Chief Safety Officer will add a few words:
Remarks by Amtrak Executive Vice President & Chief Safety Officer Steve Predmore
Thanks, Gery. Just a quick overview about me since this may be my first time speaking with you.
I have been with Amtrak since 2019 and have over 30 years of experience in protecting employees and customers in high-risk industries, including aviation, oil and gas, and contracted passenger services.
At Amtrak, I am responsible for safety, security, planning, and performance across the Amtrak national network.
On behalf of the over 400 Amtrak police officers nationwide, I want to share our commitment in ensuring a safe and seamless World Cup experience for fans traveling through the New York-New Jersey region and across the country.
As the owner of security for New York Penn Station, the Amtrak Police Department will be all-hands-on-deck on every World Cup match day.
We will be deploying officers from other parts of our network to support efforts in NY/NJ and other sites.
We will have more than 90 APD officers deployed across the New York/New Jersey region on game days, and all 400 nationwide, including specialized explosive detection canine teams and other security-enhancing technologies.
This is the largest security deployment in APD’s history.
APD will play an extensive, hands-on role alongside NJ Transit and other partner agencies in providing passenger security at New York Penn Station for the thousands of fans traveling to matches in New Jersey — covering access points, platforms, and concourses, and providing the full array of law enforcement services, including crowd management, threat assessment, and emergency response.
Beyond Penn Station, APD officers will be deployed along Amtrak-owned right-of-way along the Northeast Corridor, providing dedicated patrol coverage at critical infrastructure locations to help ensure the safe and efficient movement of trains throughout the tournament.
As Gery noted, we have been preparing and planning extensively for many months with our partner agencies to be prepared to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for our customers.
And now, I will turn it back to Gery for some closing thoughts.
Remarks by Amtrak Executive Vice President & Chief Operations Officer Gery Williams
Thanks, Steve.
There’s an old sports cliché that big players step up in big moments during big games – and that’s what our approach and mindset is to the tournament.
But words and plans mean nothing compared to what happens in the moment. We know this.
We also know we have the spotlight on us – that is not something we are ignoring, but it is a challenge we happily accept.
We also hope our partners are ready for it as we are depending on them to deliver as well with their trains.
We are ready to shine. We have to succeed and we know we will.
Bottom line – Amtrak is prepared for the games, and we’re confident these efforts will provide smooth, reliable service this summer for the World Cup, America 250 celebrations, and every other trip our customers have planned.
Before I conclude my remarks, I want to address comments made by NJ TRANSIT yesterday.
NJ TRANSIT called for us to take accountability.
However, last night, their contractor on the Portal North Bridge project they are leading caused a delay on the Northeast Corridor and they blamed “Amtrak police activity” while we cleaned up the mess. Where is their accountability?
NJ TRANSIT gets a yellow card when it comes to telling the truth about recent events.
They shouldn’t be taking a page out of Janno’s playbook.
If something goes wrong, their first instinct is to blame us. That’s not right.
We are partners and teammates in passenger rail.
There are times when not everything is going to be perfect.
And when things inevitably go wrong, we should be keeping our eye on the ball, which is taking care of our customers — and not pointing the finger at each other.
There’s over 20,000 employees at Amtrak. And on behalf of everyone at America’s Railroad, I assure you we are determined, focused, and committed to making America proud for the World Cup.
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