World Cup<\/a> experience itself.<\/p>\nSacramento resident Dimisha Rodgers said the chaotic and celebratory atmosphere of the train allowed for friendship between fans, a component of game culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are all going to the same game or coming home from the same game and there is just kind of that instant connection on the train,\u201d Rodgers said. \u201cSo then you feel a little bit more safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
For San Jose resident Eliza Nguyen, the train ride even served as entertainment for her young son.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s crowded here, but it is fun, it\u2019s exciting,\u201d Nguyen said, adding that her son really likes the train. \u201cSo it was a bonus for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, the game-day transit experience was not without challenges. Despite the deployment of VTA transit ambassadors to assist riders, some fans were confused navigating between train and buses and the adjusted light-rail routes.<\/p>\n
Reshini Premaratne of San Jose found herself lost between differing transit instructions from Google Maps \u2014 which recommended Amtrak \u2014 and Caltrain employees. She finally settled on taking the light rail.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got on and paid tickets, unfortunately, they were like, \u2018This is actually very confusing,\u2019\u201d Premaranthe said.<\/p>\n
![\"World](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SJM-L-WCTRANSIT-MOS-03.jpg\")
World Cup fans squeeze onto a VTA light rail train for the trip to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara for the Switzerland-Qatar match on June 13, 2026. (J.R. McMinn\/Mosaic)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Additionally, some riders were concerned about the crowded atmosphere on the light-rail trains. Claudia Vaz, a San Jose resident, worried about her child\u2019s experience on a chaotic train.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it gets too rowdy at the end of the game with a lot of people who had alcohol, then it would make it challenging with a little kid,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The VTA, however, considered the game-day transit operation ultimately successful.<\/p>\n
\u201cThousands of fans chose transit to get to and from the match, and together with BART and Caltrain, we provided a seamless travel experience that kept people moving and got them home safely,\u201d VTA General Manager and CEO Carolyn Gonot said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The agency said it was able to clear light rail platforms at Levi\u2019s Stadium within 90 minutes of the match\u2019s conclusion, faster than the benchmark of two hours for major events.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a tremendous success for VTA and our regional transit partners,\u201d Gonot said.<\/p>\n
Ekasha Sikka is a member of the class of 2027 at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont. J.R. McMinn is a member of the class of 2027 at Del Mar High School in San Jose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: This story is part of the annual Mosaic Journalism Program for Bay Area high school students,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[15392,184,7,181,23,15581,100,88,90,89,197,198,1083,200,127,3766,1967,47118],"class_list":["post-375801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-mosaic","tag-news","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-soccer","tag-south-bay","tag-sports","tag-transit","tag-transportation","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"World](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SJM-L-WCTRANSIT-MOS-02.jpg\")
World Cup fans crowded aboard a VTA light rail train for a selfie on the way to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara for the Switzerland-Qatar match on June 13, 2026. (J.R. McMinn\/Mosaic)\u00a0<\/p>\n