JEFFERSON CITY – With the final whistle marking the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is celebrating the success of Kansas City as a top host city, made possible in part through traffic management and increased capacity of the Missouri River Runner Amtrak service.
With six matches and over 19 days of fan events throughout the region, traffic management was key to effectively facilitating travel for 11 teams and over 400,000 fans in Kansas City. The multi-agency Transportation Operations Center and State Emergency Operations Center helped facilitate the flow of travel by responding to changing conditions, providing emergency response services, coordinating optimal routes and pushing out real-time traveler information on match days and throughout the tournament’s run. Across the six match days, MoDOT emergency response operators assisted with 650 incidents, providing needed attention to disabled vehicles, collisions and debris on the roadways.
“The dedicated men and women of MoDOT that provided emergency assistance and staffed operations centers throughout the World Cup made this event possible,” said MoDOT Director Ed Hassinger. “And the preparation and work to efficiently move these travelers extended beyond our highways, ensuring multimodal options for a global audience.”
During the tournament’s run, the Missouri River Runner Amtrak service proved to be a vital multimodal option for thousands of global visitors and Missourians alike. In preparation for increased demand, extra railcars were added to the River Runner routes, the MoDOT-sponsored Amtrak passenger rail service that operates daily between Kansas City and St. Louis. The extra cars were provided through a partnership with the states of Illinois and Michigan.
This increased capacity allowed more opportunities for riders through the duration of the World Cup and helped carry more than 31,000 passengers, generating $1.6 million in revenue. That represents a 14.2% increase in ridership and 23% increase in revenue when compared to the previous year.
Other highlights of the expanded service include:
- Over 25,000 customers traveled through Kansas City Union Station, across all Amtrak services, during the World Cup.
- Coach on 22 trains would have been sold out if not for the extra capacity.
- The Ecuador v. Curacao match drew the largest crowds with 4,421 passengers over a 3-day period.
“We’re proud of the work of our team, together with local, state and federal partners, to collaborate and effectively show the world that Kansas City is an ideal host site for world-class events,” said Hassinger.
####
For more information, call MoDOT at 888-ASK-MODOT (275-6636) or visit www.modot.org.
To receive the latest statewide news and text alerts, signup for e-updates.
