Central Coast train Wi-Fi: Applications put forward for mobile base stations

Long suffering commuters are closer than ever to getting uninterrupted mobile coverage between the Central Coast and Sydney. Here’s the proof.

Uninterrupted Wi-Fi on the train is closer then we expected. Picture: Peter Clark

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The first of 22 telecommunications towers have been proposed along the railway line to improve Wi-Fi for Central Coast commuters.

For the first time, the Express can reveal that seven development applications for telecommunications towers have been lodged along the line at various locations in Wondabyne.

This will come as a relief to thousands of commuters who have been waiting for many years for uninterrupted Wi-Fi for their daily trip to Sydney.

The notoriously dodgy Wi-Fi has driven commuters mad, from the moment they enter the Woy Woy tunnel to sometimes beyond the Hawkesbury River.

The location of the first five towers are along this stretch of the railway track in Wondabyne.

The DAs are currently open for public comment with Central Coast Council, valued at $250,000 each tower, which includes a 15m monopole with a circular headframe to mount antennas and equipment, along with a security fence around the facility.

There is also a DA for rock-face mounted mobile antennas for $100,000.

“The proposed facility is to provide improved Telstra 4G coverage to rail commuters and other users moving through Wondabyne, and also to the surrounding area,” the DA reports state.

Proposed site for rock-face mounted antennas.

A telecommunications tower.

“The proposed facility will provide enhanced in-building coverage and mobile services to the community, businesses, emergency services and travellers in the area, and will form an integral part of Telstra’s mobile telecommunications network along the rail corridor between Hornsby and Gosford.”

Applicant Service Stream Network Construction has lodged the applications on behalf of Telstra for the infrastructure.

Robertson federal Liberal MP Lucy Wicks, who announced the original plan to improve Wi-Fi for commuters in 2016, said it was “exciting to see this next step”.

Proposed location for a tower.

“There have been significant frustrations and delays which we have been working through,” she said.

“It’s a difficult project in terms of permission, terrain and Occupational Health and Safety.

“But this progress if fantastic and I will be continuing to push at both federal and state level for this project to be completed as quickly as possible for our hard working commuters.”

Wondabyne is a notoriously dodgy Wi-Fi location. Picture: Mitchell Hubbard.

Telstra was awarded the contract to set up new mobile infrastructure along the line, along with establishing Wi-Fi at train stations along the heavily used rail corridor owned by Transport NSW.

Telstra regional general manager Mike Marom confirmed Telstra had lodged seven DAs.

“These proposed sites will primarily support new mobile coverage between Hornsby and Wyong, as opposed to WiFi at the train stations,” he said.

“This includes building new mobile infrastructure between Hornsby and Wyong (around 68,000 kilometres of train tracks), as well as delivering WiFi at train stations along the rail corridor.”

According to the Federal Government’s fact sheet on mobile base stations and health, it states the antennas “emit low level radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic energy (EME)”.

“Current research indicates that there are no established health effects from the low exposure to the RF EME from mobile phone base station antennas.”