For the last 20 years, I’ve been wondering when mobile network coverage would finally come to the London tube. Together with Berlin, London was/is one of the last remaining major cities in Europe I have visited in recent years without decent mobile network coverage in underground public transportation. But it seems that the people who have seen problems rather than solutions have finally retired, and LTE / 5G network rollout in the London tube has finally started.
When I was recently in London, I had network coverage on the Central line in the center of London, on the Victoria line and on the Northern line. Here’s a link to a map that shows the rollout progress in August 2024. This page of the Transport for London web site states that by end of 2025, most stations and tunnels of the extensive London tube system will be covered:
Uninterrupted 4G and 5G mobile coverage is being rolled out to all underground station ticket halls, platforms and tunnels on the Tube. Around 80% will be connected by the end of 2025, that’s around 220 of 272 stations.
And here’s some more background information. How nice! But marketing talk on web pages is cheap, so I had a closer look. Stay tuned for a number a follow up posts with the tech details.