Home MTA Technology Schumer calls for wireless access on commuter rail

Schumer calls for wireless access on commuter rail

by Benjamin Kabak

schumer Sometimes, the Associated Press under-writes a story. Take, for example, this short one about Senator Chuck Schumer and the MTA.

In it, the AP explores how New York’s senior Senator would prefer to see the MTA implement wireless service aboard commuter rail trains sooner rather than later. It could be perhaps the most understated story in a while. Take a look:

Sen. Charles Schumer contends the commuter railroads serving New York City have been slow to implement wireless Internet service.

Schumer is calling on the MTA to follow through on plans he says have been in the works for months. He says other major mass transit systems across the United States already have on-board major wireless Internet service.

He says that puts the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad behind railroads in Texas, California and Utah.

The senator says adding wireless Internet would help improve productivity for commuters and the thousands of students who use the rails.

That’s the whole thing. My favorite part is how Schumer is contending that the MTA has “been slow to implement wireless Internet service.” Considering the state of the MTA’s various wireless campaigns, “slow” is a compliment. I generally opt for the less flattering “inept.”

The truth is that Schumer is 100 percent correct, but his critique extends well beyond the MTA’s reach. It’s true that railraods in Texas California and Utah may offer wireless service on board, but in our own backyard, Amtrak doesn’t even provide wireless service in its heavily-traveled Northeast Corridor.

This call, then, by our Senator strikes me as a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Through New Haven, Amtrak and Metro-North share rights-of-way. Schumer should work to ensure that the wireless service for the commuter rails can cover Amtrak. It may be infeasible. Perhaps the trains are equipped with different signal receivers. Perhaps what works at Metro-North and LIRR speeds doesn’t work at Amtrak and Acela speeds. It’s worth a shot though.

In response to Schumer’s calls, the MTA said it would be fielding requests for proposals on the project until September. The agency wants to gauge both interest and feasibility. Considering that airplanes now come equipped with wireless, our commuter rails should too.

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11 comments

pete June 16, 2009 - 5:47 am

Who is going to use this? LIRR has wonderful cell service in east river tunnels and at platform levels at Penn. Although the Atlantic branch doesn’t have in-tunnel cell service.

3G/aircards/cellphones from Sprint/Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile make this plan ridiculous. If you really need internet access on the go, get cellphone internet access that will work on a bus, and pretty much anywhere except underground, and the MTA can fix that problem. This is nothing but pork. Knowing the MTA and their infinite wisdom, this service will run over a cell network, and won’t be available on the Atlantic branch. The MTA needs to work with cellphone carriers to add more underground coverage, not waste money on wifi over cellphone boxes being placed in each train car, which can easily be rendered technologically obsolete. Anyone remember Railfone on MNRR?

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Josh K June 16, 2009 - 8:11 am

Amtrak, MNRR and LIRR all run at about the same speeds. Only the Acela goes faster, but it doesn’t really do so in Metro-North territory, largely because of the amount of MNRR traffic.

I agree with Pete that what we really need is just guaranteed 3G service along the rail corridors. That way it is the cell phone companies problem to maintain and update the network. Wireless communications standards change too frequently for a lumbering bureaucracy like the MTA to keep up. Besides, they’re not a communications organization, they’re a transit organization. What the MTA should do is lease tower space along it’s right of way too the major wireless carriers, including the MNRR Park Ave. Tunnel.

As a state organization, the MTA doesn’t have to conform to local zoning codes, so it can just lease tower locations with minimal fuss. This has been a major issue with municipalities along the Hudson who are loathe to allow ANY cell towers anywhere in their vistas.

The village of Croton-on-Hudson (home of MNRR’s massive Harmon Yards and Shops complex) has been incredibly reluctant to allow any cell towers within their jurisdiction. It’s so bad that the only cell service available near the trains station (which also serves Amtrak) is from a tower ACROSS the Hudson River (which is at the Hudson’s widest point). All the carriers need to do is just setup their tower on MNRR property and they’d be set. Plus it would have the added benefit of providing improved cell coverage on the river itself, which is increasingly more important for boaters’ distress calls.

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Alon Levy June 17, 2009 - 2:02 am

Speed is a red herring. The TGV, which runs at 200 mph, has been recently retrofitted with free wi-fi – and that’s in France, which isn’t famous for its technology the way Japan or Korea is.

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The Daily Dig - I Hate ‘I [Heart] Rail’ Edition » INFRASTRUCTURIST June 16, 2009 - 11:03 am

[…] Road don’t have access to WiFi on the train. It would cost about $1000 per car to install. (Second Ave Sagas, […]

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Whatever June 16, 2009 - 2:03 pm

This project is a waste as there are more important worries than providing free internet service to suburban rail commuters.

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Benjamin Kabak June 16, 2009 - 2:13 pm

I’d say a project is a waste when the costs of it far outweigh its benefits. Per the Newsday article, this will cost $1000 per car of federal – not MTA – money and would improve productivity by a significantly higher margin than that. Not a waste.

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Whatever June 16, 2009 - 2:17 pm

Completely irrelevant where the money is coming from. In these economic times, money needs to be spent on projects that benefit many & this does not qualify. LIRR riders have options of free wifi from Optimum Online for starters.

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Walter Sobchak June 16, 2009 - 10:05 pm

Wait, this only costs about $1,000 a car?

To offer wifi on the entire new set of 210 New Haven Line cars would only cost $210,000?!?

Imagine how much work a person could do from New Haven to Stamford (45 minutes), Stamford to New York (about 40 minutes on an express), or New Haven to New York (up to 2 hours). Hell, I’d even pay a nominal amount to have wifi on a boring train ride home.

We can afford specially designed signs on the Merritt Parkway but can’t afford something that can drastically improve productivity (especially during delays in service/”police activity on the tracks”)? There’s no reason we shouldn’t have this by Christmas.

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herenthere June 16, 2009 - 10:59 pm

I think we should get Transit Wireless to start wiring subway tunnels with basic cell service first, since I’m pretty sure that there are more riders taking the subway that could be more productive than on the LIRR+MNR combined. Besides, the commuter rails empty out into the subway system anyways.

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MTA moving forward with wireless access plans :: Second Ave. Sagas | A New York City Subway Blog July 10, 2009 - 1:37 am

[…] Last month, the Senior Senator from the Great State of New York issued a call for the MTA to outfit their commuter rail trains with wireless Internet. I used his call as a launching point for a brief discussion on how Amtrak, Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road should all be equipped for wireless. […]

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Amtrak, now with some wireless internet :: Second Ave. Sagas March 3, 2010 - 4:14 pm

[…] to wire its underground subway system for basic cell service, and Sen. Chuck Schumer has called for wireless access on the MTA’s commuter rails. It truly is a matter of economics and productivity because people with Internet don’t suffer […]

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