Metra on Dec. 10, announced that all five of its downtown stations now offer free Wi-Fi hotspots and free electric charging outlets.
“We understand that our customers rely on their digital devices and expect to be able to use Wi-Fi and power up while waiting for their trains,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “We are pleased to be able to offer these free amenities so our customers can stay connected and charged.”
The Wi-Fi units installed at all five stations cost Metra about $12,000 and monthly service fees for all locations cost $1,050.
The amenities are offered at the following locations:
- At Union Station, the hotspot and charging station are located near the Metra ticketing area between the north and south concourses.
- At Millennium, the Wi-Fi hotspot covers the passenger waiting area in the center of the station, where the charging stations were installed.
- At Van Buren, the hotspot reaches both the north and south portions of the waiting area and both charging stations.
- At Ogilvie, Wi-Fi is available in the platform-level waiting area as well as around the charging stations on the ground floor in the passenger concourse.
- And at LaSalle Street, the hotspot covers the outdoor concourse and the indoor waiting area.
In each case, the Wi-Fi is discoverable under the name “Metra Wi-Fi.” No password is required.
Metra also is installing Wi-Fi hotspots on 11 railcars (one for each line) as part of a new test program to provide free, onboard Wi-Fi to customers. These railcars will be retrofitted with cellular hot spots before January 2016 to determine whether the technology can provide free and dependable Internet access to customers onboard Metra trains.
The six-month pilot program is expected to cost approximately $35,000. Once the technology is installed, Metra plans to alert customers about the test program and how to identify which railcars will have “hot spots.” The agency will also notify them that there may be dead zones along the route and advise them that streaming video onboard will likely impair service. The agency will also post information on its website about how to provide feedback on the quality of Wi-Fi service.
