Cell Coverage for Tysons Tunnel Could Come Sooner than Scheduled

It is far from the biggest problem facing Metro, but the lack of cell coverage in the Greensboro Metro tunnel is still a minor annoyance for locals that could be fixed earlier than planned.

Since May, Metro’s claims that Virginia’s tunnels had complete cellular coverage came with an “except for Tysons” corollary. But while Tysons was originally scheduled to get covered by 2020 with the rest of the tunnels, plans for Tysons have shifted to an expected completion by the end of the year.

“Wireless voice and data service is now available in more than 60 percent of Metro’s tunnel segments,” Sherri Ly, the media relations manager for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, said. “Metro is on schedule to have the Greensboro tunnel on the Silver Line complete by the end of this year and expects to have cellular coverage across the entire system by June 2020.”

The lack of cell service is more than a convenience issue. Experts have called it a glaring safety problem for the system — particularly in the wake of a death in a smoke-clogged tunnel in 2015.