CTA Blue Line gets expanded wireless coverage

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel yesterday announced the completion of a project to bring 4G wireless coverage on the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Blue Line.

Riders now will have full 4G coverage throughout all 13 miles of the Blue Line subway sections near O'Hare International Airport, Logan Square and downtown Chicago, according to a CTA press release.

"Blue Line riders no longer will have to worry about losing cell phone service on their way downtown or on a trip to O’Hare," Emanuel said. "The coverage will also improve communications for first responders working inside the tunnel system."

This marks the latest milestone in Emanuel's $32.5 million plan to bring 4G wireless coverage across CTA's 22 miles of subway stations and tunnels on the Blue and Red lines, which are the agency's busiest, CTA officials said.

Expected to be completed by the end of this year, that larger project will make Chicago the largest city in North America to have a subway system with full 4G wireless coverage across its entire system of subway stations and tunnels, according to the CTA.

In January, T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint collectively agreed to fund the design and construction of a next-generation distributed antenna system capable of supporting the latest 4G wireless networks and mobile devices.