Metra Will Add Free Wi-Fi to 50 More Cars

Metra is planning to add free cellular Wi-Fi hotspots to 50 more cars, the commuter rail system announced Wednesday. The 50 additional cars will be distributed throughout the Metra system and labeled with orange decals on the exterior.

Metra first tested out the free Wi-Fi in 11 railcars starting in February and has since decided to continue and expand the Wi-Fi program after a majority of customers in an online survey said they were satisfied with the quality of the connection during the test, according to a news release from Metra.

The six-month test was meant to determine whether the hotspot technology could provide free and dependable internet access to customers at an affordable cost to Metra.

“It’s clear from the test that this technology can meet the needs of a majority of our customers while still being affordable to Metra, so we are expanding our Wi-Fi program to 50 more cars,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “We’re happy to offer one more way to improve the customer experience onboard our trains.”

To access the free Wi-Fi service, customers can select “Metra Wi-Fi Onboard” from the list of options on their smartphones, tablets or laptop computers, according to the news release. Once selected, they must agree to the terms and conditions to gain access to the service.

The Wi-Fi hotspot units cost about $2,000 each. The monthly data charges cost about $250 per unit per month, so the annual cost for units in 62 cars will be about $186,000, according to the news release. Metra is seeking partners to help offset the costs of the program.

In general, the hotspots are limited to a 1 megabyte per second download speed per user. Checking e-mail and Internet browsing are the intended uses of this service and should not be used for streaming video. Metra will continue to post information on board to notify customers that streaming video will likely impair service and that there may be dead zones along the route.

In 2013, Metra investigated offering more extensive Wi-Fi service on all cars, but the estimated $72 million upfront cost was prohibitive and in a subsequent effort the agency could not identify a partner who could reliably provide that level of funding, according to the press release.

Last year, to further enhance the agency’s customer connectivity options, Metra completed installation of free charging stations and free Wi-Fi in the waiting areas at all five downtown stations.