Though some would say the G train is the worst train in NYC, she certainly has been undergoing quite the glow up, what with the $368 million spent to upgrade the line’s signal system (though, sadly, it did force it to be suspended for six weeks–and boy were those weeks looong) and the new fleet of open gangway subway cars that rolled out this past March and will continue to roll out throughout the year. Next up on the docket: subway tunnel cell service, baby!!!
Yup, that’s right. Soon the ~166,000 straphangers that ride the G train daily won’t have to worry about seeing the dreaded green iMessage (sorry Android users) or deal with lagging and skipping when watching the latest episode of The Last of Us on their phones mid-commute as MTA officials have officially announced at their latest committee meeting that subway tunnels covering half of the G train’s route will receive cell service as early as this fall.
According to officials, straphangers who ride the northern half of the G–between Court Street and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets–will finally have 5G cell service throughout the duration of their trip; not just when pulling into stations. Expanded cell service will also head to the 4 and 5 train tunnels from Bowling Green in Manhattan to Borough Hall in Brooklyn by the end of the year.
The expanded cell service is the latest step in the MTA’s efforts to provide cell coverage throughout all 418 track miles of subway tunnels. Officials first announced these efforts back in 2022, stating the process would take 10 years, though so far progress has erred on the slower side.
And the project is no cheap feat either–officials are estimating a full rollout of cell coverage to cost a whopping $600 million, though MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber made it clear that the installation will be done at no cost to the public. Rather, Boldyn Networks, the company the MTA is turning towards to manage the connectivity project, will cover the cost of the project and keep any revenue made off the wireless network.
As for installation, Lieber stated it’s expected to be “seamless” as the MTA will allow Boldyn to “come in and put in their cables to put in the infrastructure to create connectivity” every time the MTA is already doing on-site work in the tunnels.
Though there’s no specific target date set for this project, officials say the G train could receive cell service as early as this fall. As for whether or not all of NYC’s subway tunnels will have wireless connectivity by 2032–the originally estimated project timeline–that’s still up in the air. As of now, the only portion of the system that has full cell service is the 42nd Street Shuttle between Times Square and Grand Central Terminal and the Canarsie tunnel used by the L between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
According to MTA officials, portions of the A and C lines are next in line to receive cell service. You can see a video of Wednesday’s (May 28th) full committee meeting below: