Over 100,000 tickets sold for World Cup train service in Boston
High volume of train service resulted in lighter road traffic on match days
Ticket sales for the first match more than tripled the previous one-day record for stadium service
MBTA and Keolis Deliver Unprecedented Boston Stadium Train Service
The MBTA and Keolis Commuter Services (Keolis), the T’s operations and maintenance partner for Commuter Rail, wrapped up World Cup train service on Thursday after transporting record numbers of passengers to Foxboro Station for each match.
After months of planning, the unprecedented effort included operating 14 trains in each direction for each match, positioning hundreds of crew members throughout the Commuter Rail system to respond to issues, assembling and breaking down queues outside South Station for each match day, and coordinating with local, state, and federal partners to ensure each match day was a success.
“Our goal was to provide a world class experience for passengers attending World Cup matches while making sure to still deliver for our passengers in the Commonwealth,” said Keolis CEO and General Manager John Killeen. “Boston Stadium train service outperformed even the high expectations we set for ourselves at Keolis. I want to personally thank our partners at the MBTA and everyone who made this operation such a success.”
World Cup train service by the numbers:
- 108,940train tickets sold for Boston Stadium across all seven matches. Including ~19,900 for the first match. The previous record for one day event service was ~5,400 tickets sold.
- 100% of passengers arrived at the stadium more than 90 minutes ahead of every match kickoff
- 88% of passengers had departed Foxboro on board trains within two hours of each match concluding
- 27 minThe average queue wait time at Foxboro across all matches
- 12 minThe average queue wait time at South across all matches
- 43countries made the trip and passengers rode from all 50 states in the U.S.
- 700 Keolis and MBTA staff members in the field on each match day. This includes customer service staff, queue staff, as well as mechanical and engineering crews on site throughout the network to respond to any issues.
Keolis also brought in colleagues from the UK, Canada, and France to assist with Boston Stadium service. They have significant experience working on large scale events like the Olympics and previous World Cups and spent the entire six-week World Cup period in Boston.