The Andrews Government has announced mobile phone coverage is now available in Melbourne’s city loop.
Victorian public transport minister Jacinta Allan was joined by transport operators and mobile phone carriers at Parliament Station to confirm last week that, after days of testing, passengers now have access to high-quality 3G voice and 4G data coverage throughout Melbourne’s 12 kilometres of rail tunnels and underground stations.
Allan said the new mobile phone service emulates mobile carrier coverage in the Hong Kong, Singapore and Montreal underground rail systems, and exceeds the quality of coverage found in many other capital cities around the world.
“The Andrews Labor Government has achieved what the Liberals promised but never delivered,” she said. “Mobile coverage in the city loop.”
The coverage is being delivered by Victorian rail asset owner VicTrack.
“This ends years of frustration for passengers, who would be in the middle of a conversation only for their phone to cut out when they entered the loop,” Allan continued.
“Passengers can now text, talk and stream from their phones or tablets anywhere in the city loop.”
The minister said further work was scheduled for the next 12 to 18 months, intended to enhance 4G data services, increase capacity and improve data speeds even further.