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More Calls for WiFi on Trains ...
(17 Jun 2009, BWCS Staff)US Senator Charles Schumer has joined the chorus of on-board WiFi supporters demanding more on-train access for passengers. Speaking earlier this week he called on the Long Island Rail Road to install wireless Internet access on all its trains to "Make commuting more productive and pleasant." Joined by wireless experts from Stony Brook University, Schumer said, perhaps overstating the case, that the LIRR needs to catch up with the many other train providers in the US and across the world, who are already offering passengers and staff wireless internet access.
According to Schumer, the busy commuter line has been "slow to adapt." He went on "The technology is ready and waiting and would easily be up and running by the end of the year." For its part the railroad said it is looking into such a project.
"As promised, the Metropolitan Transport Authority will be assessing the feasibility of providing WiFi on commuter trains by issuing a request for expressions of interest," a spokesman said in a statement. "We have already begun placing the required advertisements and the request will be released on July 1 with responses due in September."
Schumer said wireless Internet access would cost about US$1,000 per carriage, and that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, if it acts quickly, could use federal stimulus dollars to fund the project.
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