Tuesday, May 7
The Berlin U-Bahn gets high-speed internet
In order to avoid interrupting the regular train services, they’ve been working at night. In the last 5 years, construction teams for the BVG have laid down more than 1,000km of fiberoptic cables and 360 tunnel antennas during short, 3-hour construction periods in the middle of the night while the U-Bahn was not in service. Now the task is complete. As of yesterday, the Berlin U-Bahn network can boast the most comprehensive indoor communications project in Germany.
The new 4G/LTE service covering the whole of the U-Bahn network will even allow the BVG to modernise further. Henrik Falk, CEO of the BVG, commented in a press release that with this basis, the company would be able to “offer free WiFi on our subway trains in the future”. It also lays the foundation for further development; Alexanderplatz will be the first station to get a powerful 5G offering.
Over 100 years old, with nine lines and 175 stations, Berlin’s U-Bahn network is one of the oldest and largest in the Europe and serves more than a million passengers each day.
