Transport for London starts ESN Pilot
At a recent hearing, TfL’s CTO announced the organisation is building a pilot version of the Emergency Services Network (ESN) on the London Underground.
Transport for London (TfL) has begun work on the construction of a pilot 4G mobile network on the London Underground. The organization if preparing their communication in order ot make sure that the upcoming Emergency Services Network (ESN) will be available to ambulance, fire and police serices in stations and tunnels on the London Underground.
TfL already rolled out the Airwave TETRA network back in 2009, but, speaking at a Greater London Authority (GLA) Oversight Committee hearing about the roll-out of the ESN network in the city, CEO Sashi Verma said there was a good reason why it has not been possible to have 4G coverage on the London Underground before now.
He said clearly that the space in the tunnel is incredibly confined and with new technology it is now possible to do something about that. He also stated that the cost will be high and that it will not be an easy job that can be done quickly.
TfL has already started to work on the construction of a pilot network for the shortes lines on the network, the Waterloo and City Line,
“The purpose of the pilot is not to figure out if the technology will work,” said Verma. “We have no concerns about the technology not working. It is to test the construction rates we can achieve so that we can do proper cost planning.”