England fans feel ‘fleeced’ and ‘gouged’ by exorbitant train fares for this summer’s World Cup.
A 30-minute train journey to New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium will cost £111 for a return ($150) – an 11-fold increase on the regular price – from Penn Station in Manhattan.
And a 44-mile round trip from Boston’s central station to the Boston Stadium in Foxborough and back will cost £59.12 ($80) – four times the typical matchday fee.
England play their second group game against Ghana in Foxborough on June 23 before travelling to the MetLife to meet Panama on June 27.
Scotland will also have two group fixtures at the Boston Stadium – firstly against Haiti on June 13 and then Morocco on June 19.
‘The price is obviously astronomical in terms of what you would expect to pay going to a match, going to a tournament,’ Thomas Concannon, who leads the Football Supporters’ Association England fans’ group, told the BBC.
‘You’re supposed to be welcoming fans from around the world. And I think at this stage, fans couldn’t feel less welcome.
‘I don’t think anyone this time was expecting transport to be free. But we weren’t expecting to be gouged, either.
‘That’s ultimately what’s happened here, and that’s just extremely disappointing. We don’t understand why.
‘Every single thing coming out of this tournament so far is just fans getting fleeced,’ he added.
‘With there being no concessionary prices that’s obviously going to impact families, senior concessions as well.
‘Who knows what even a pint of beer is going to cost in the normal bars? What’s food going to be like? And then there’s obviously the tipping culture.’
Fans are already under financial pressure due to the astronomical cost of getting out to North America, securing accommodation, and paying through the nose for match tickets.
Daily Mail analysis in December found that fans hoping to stay in mid-tier accommodation may have to spend around £25,000 to follow England all the way through the tournament – and things have only got worse since then.
Fans were stunned last week to see that a Category 4 ticket for England’s group game had skyrocketed from £45 to £1,700 on FIFA’s official resale site. Category 4 tickets are the lowest tier of seat and extremely limited in availability.
Meanwhile, the first open ticket sale for this summer’s World Cup final has shown that FIFA is selling what is thought to be the most expensive general admission to a match in football history.
FIFA are charging supporters up to $10,990 (£8,333) for the privilege of watching the tournament’s showpiece at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday, July 19.
The pricing system put in place by FIFA is variable, with the cost of tickets fluctuating based on demand, which remains high.
