Melbourne’s rail network phone black spots revealed

Commuters along large corridors of Melbourne’s rail network are being plagued by unreliable mobile coverage. Here we reveal the notorious black spots where phones drop out.

Commuters are becoming increasingly frustrated with mobile black spots on Victoria’s rail network, despite moves to eliminate dodgy phone coverage.

The Herald Sun can reveal notorious spots where phones drop out on the morning peak include:

• Royal Park on the Upfield line;

• Southern Cross station heading north;

• All tracks between Richmond and Flinders St stations; and

• Several stations on the Sandringham line, including Windsor.

Rail trenches introduced as part of the level-crossing removal program on the Frankston line are also causing headaches for passengers, with coverage sometimes lost for up to five minutes between Ormond, McKinnon and Bentleigh stations.

Regional lines, especially Geelong, are also affected.

Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said black spots were frustrating for commuters, especially on long commutes.

“It is obviously a problem on the V/Line but there are also black spots on the Metro network,” he said. “Using your phone is one of the benefits of using public transport but the black spots make it hard to get things done.”

Commuters are being driven crazy by mobile black spots on Victoria’s rail network, despite moves to eliminate dodgy phone coverage. Picture: David Crosling

He regularly loses coverage at some areas on the Frankston line.

“It would make sense for the phone companies to upgrade their infrastructure in certain areas,” he said.

The state government has previously moved to address black spots on five of the state’s busiest regional rail corridors using mobile reception repeaters on VLocity trains.

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They partnered with Telstra, Optus and Vodafone to improve connectivity on the Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Traralgon and Seymour rail lines.

Two years before, mobile phone coverage improvements were rolled out for the City Loop, boosting reception for 12km of tunnel.

A Department of Transport spokesman said a focus on delivering strong coverage was ongoing.

“We continue to work closely with mobile phone carriers to ensure there is widespread mobile coverage right across our public transport network, including at train stations,” he said.

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Originally published as Melbourne’s rail network phone black spots revealed