Service is now available for the entire length of the Green Line and most of the Yellow Line.
Communications networks that railway operators have depended on for decades are quickly becoming obsolete and increasingily difficult to maintain and/or replace.
The first Task Order focuses on 20 trainsets on the popular high-speed Acela Express route, which runs from Washington, D.C. to Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.
The network upgrade, which began in early 2015, now provides millions of Chicago subway riders a faster mobile experience throughout their commutes. The design and installation of the system created approximately 50 jobs.
The project was supposed to have been completed three years ago, under a 2008 contract between WMATA and a consortium of Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, however, officials said several obstacles prevented the companies from wiring the tunnels.
VIA's expanded 4G LTE service, provided in partnership with Verizon and Cradlepoint, is an enhancement over the previous 3G wireless service available on express routes, the Primo route, and 11 transit centers. Now the improved and expanded service is available on all bus routes and VIA properties, and it will also be available on VIAtrans paratransit vans by November 1.
Beginning in September, the service will improve to 4G LTE and will be available on all VIA buses and properties.
The lack of cell phone coverage was exposed most recently after the Jan. 12 smoke incident at L’Enfant Plaza when passengers aboard Yellow Line train No. 302 struggled to connect to 911 as smoke filled the railcars just a few hundred feet south of the station platform.
T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint have collectively agreed to fund the entire upgrade related to the design and construction of a next-generation Distributed Antenna System capable of supporting the latest 4G wireless networks and mobile devices on the Chicago Transit Authority's system.
Allows users to make and receive cell phone calls, send text messages, stream music and play online mobile games. It also enables security services such as E911 that allow dispatchers to know when a call is being placed from an underground platform and the forthcoming Help Point Intercom system.