Former Transport Minister Terry Mulder and Former Premier Denis Napthine promised a mobile service would be delivered last year. Credit:Paul Jeffers The newly elected Andrews government in December postponed that target until the second quarter of 2015 for 3G services and the second quarter of 2016 for 4G services. In July the Daniel Andrews government again delayed the launch date until November 2015 at the earliest. VicTrack insists it plans to have 3G services up and running by November. The state government, as recently as this weekend, blamed two main reasons for the continued delays: the chance that signals from the mobile network could interfere with the digital radios used by train drivers to communicate and the lack of time to complete the work. But sources told The Age that the consortium of telco operators, including Singtel-Optus, Telstra and Vodafone Hutchison Australia, has had its equipment tested with preparatory installations completed and ready to connect since September 2014. That testing included covering off any potential signal interference issues. The telcos involved declined to provide a detailed comment. But when asked about the alleged signal problems Optus, which is leading the project, said it had completed testing on its equipment.

Commuter Tracey Candy says it's ridiculous coverage doesn't yet extend to the City Loop. Credit:Luis Ascui "We're working closely with the other providers as well as our partner VicTrack to implement infrastructure and test services," an Optus spokesman said. "We have tested infrastructure to ensure the infrastructure meets and supports telecommunications services." VicTrack did not answer questions about when the equipment was tested and ready for installation. "The start of mobile phone coverage in the City Loop is only weeks away from the switch-on date of November 2015," a spokesman said.

Not having coverage is more and more unusual now ... and these dead zones are a real public safety issue. Broadcast Australia managing director Chris Jaeger He said that it "ended up being more complex than first planned" and blamed Melbourne's "very busy" major events calendar as contributing to the problems. But sources also said the telco teams have not been given the necessary time in the tunnels to complete the project despite the network shutting down for around four 4 hours every night. Over 1460 hours have passed without the project's completion. Other much busier underground rail networks have found ways to install mobile networks despite facing tougher time constraints. New York's ageing subway system was first opened in 1904 and many of its lines run 24 hours a day but mobile networks have been progressively installed since 2010. The Channel Tunnel linking France and the United Kingdom has had full 4G services from December 12, 2014 and Sydney's underground rail lines have enjoyed full connectivity since April 2014.

By comparison, the Melbourne City Loop comprises five stations in a relatively simple circuit that was completed in 1981. Broadcast Australia operates television towers across the country and its subsidiaries have successfully built subway mobile networks in New York, Hong Kong and Toronto, Canada. Its international business managing director Chris Jaeger said he did not know the specifics of the Melbourne City Loop project but added that building mobile networks in subway systems was a relatively well-understood engineering challenge. "The cable has got to be placed in precise places to make it work properly so it does need to be well-engineered," he said. "But tunnel coverage ... it's common practice; it's not new stuff – this has been happening for 20, 30 years. "Not having coverage is more and more unusual now ... and these dead zones are a real public safety issue."

Tracey Candy, from Craigeburn, said it was annoying that nothing had been done about putting phone reception in the Loop. "It's ridiculous, we should have it by now so we can connect everywhere," she said. The technology works by running a length of "leaky" cables along the wall of the tunnels that allow signals to radiate at regular intervals. Antennas use these leaks to send and receive mobile data, such as phone calls and internet traffic. The cables and antennas are small to avoid any potential contact with trains and eventually lead to larger communications rooms in train stations that process the information like a mobile base station. Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said he was disappointed to hear that engineers had been ready to install the equipment needed for phone and internet coverage since September.

"It is very frustrating," he said. "Train passengers know too well that as soon as you enter the tunnels here in Melbourne you lose phone coverage. "Having phone coverage and internet coverage means people can be more productive as they travel by public transport, so it's really important to get that coverage going. "The technology is not complicated; we're not trying to reach the moon here. The phone companies are willing to provide the upgrades so really we should be getting on with it."