4G Goes underground????

So nearly two years on and someone decides another announcement should be made stating the first section will go live next year. Why? Why now?

On the face of it this is a rehash of the initial announcement rather than the actual launch of the new service?
Which for conspiracy theory supporters triggers the question why of why would they put out a press release about such a non-event now? Are they hoping to distract our attention from something else?


I rather like the concept of people having a grumpiness quotient. I somehow doubt TFL can arrange for that inbuilt grumpiness to be exhausted by exposing passengers to a constant data torrent throughout their journey, let alone producing some sort of nirvana state among tube passengers. We can but hope.


In the meantime I can definitely see this project being of real benefit to below ground emergency service communication and it may also aid revenue protection, and future passenger flow modelling.

As the system will use TFL owned kit, presumably TFL will have rights of access to any data, even if the kit is then sub-leased to individual mobile providers. So it should mean that TFL will finally have some very reliable start to finish tracking of your mobile connection. (Yes there are a few travellers out there who do not own a mobile but is suspect they are no longer statistically relevant.)

The data should show how individuals actually route through the blackhole sections. It won't take a lot more effort to then match phone data with video feeds of entry and exit gate swipes to identify the mobiles of individuals of interest (those not paying their way). So for instance if a mobile regularly enters the system at an ungated station lets say Chalfont & Latimer and exits in Westminster but with no Oyster trace roughly matching the entry/exit times it might be worth checking the CCTV, indeed a bit of specialist software investment could quickly claw back its initial cost.

The data may also allow TFL to better prepare for the events like the launch of Elizabeth Line or help real-time management of incidents.

Very slow progress by a large number of mobile connections will reveal corridors and other pinch point locations where significant human traffic jams are already happening, and provide data to show if problems have been improved or got worse.

As the money tree is likely to remain severely constrained, that data could allow limited funds to be targeted on areas where relatively small physical improvements might deliver the greatest customer benefit.

I am rather looking forward to the system going live, but it is a bit like most free stuff, people quickly assume that they have a right to expect a train service provider to do stuff which is not really about running trains. I guess TFL will eventually realise this new feature has also unleashed a new opportunity for passengers to flood social media with tweets about even the slightest delay in their journeys, and heaven knows how they will react if or when the system develops some sort of fault. Hey ho there goes progress.

No. TfL are selling the rights. The provider will want to get their money back.

Update being put out on TFL comms this week:

“Customers travelling between Holland Park - Queensway (Central line) are now starting to see mobile coverage in ticket halls, platforms and tunnels between those stations. Coverage between Kentish Town and Archway on the Northern line will go live in the coming week. We expect all operators to offer service on live sections by spring 2023”