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Government Scheme (Slowly) Helping Cover Train-line Blackspots Down Under
(29 Jun 2016, BWCS Staff)As if Australians, still reeling from a 3-0 loss in the recent rugby series with England, didn’t have enough to worry about. It now appears that the Coalition Government’s AU$220 million (US$163.3 million) mobile blackspot programme, which would help alleviate train line coverage, is also failing to deliver.
The re-elected Turnbull administration previously pledged it would allocate money to spend on improving cellular coverage in areas nominated by the community and along major transport routes. However, critics point out that only a very few of the 100s of promised new base stations have actually been constructed.
A recent story in the Australian press reported how two Central Coast Liberal MPs “dragged” a promise to improve coverage on the train tracks in their constituencies from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The investment of AU$12 million to boost signal reception and provide WiFi at stations along the commuter lines to Wyong and Hornsby in New South Wales, now looks set to go ahead.
The NSW Government is now expected to facilitate planning and access to land along the rail corridors and pay for additional towers or signal relay stations.
Poor connections have long been a problem for rail companies wishing to launch or improve on-train WiFi services delivered via cellular signals to the trains. Last year, BWCS and Banedanmark, the Danish rail authority, worked with all of the country’s four national mobile network operators and two train operators to generate a firm commitment to providing better coverage along the routes. It remains to be seen if other national administrations will follow this example of collaboratively working towards a common goal.
Meanwhile, train travellers in the rest of Australia will hope that the government scheme will now pick up momentum and that more of the promised 499 new cellular towers will start to appear. With the elections due on the 2nd of July, the Coalition has been accused of promising to spend more money in its traditional enclaves as well as marginal constituencies.
The problem of how to improve trackside coverage was one of the main topics addressed at the recent WiFi on Trains Conference hosted by BWCS in London. There were several new announcements made during the Conference, all of which can be found at www.Traincomms2016.com . For more information about next year’s Conference, including speaking and sponsoring opportunities, please contact Ross.Parsons@BWCS.com .
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