For many people who have flown into Sydney Airport, the airport line tunnel is a handy rail link that connects passengers to the city. This tunnel links Sydney Airport with Central Station, the Sydney Central Business District and 300 train stations in Greater Sydney.

Ensuring seamless connectivity during the journey was a task given to our Specialised Solutions Coverage (SCS) team. The objective of the project was to ensure coverage was available for the major carriers throughout the nine kilometres of track that sits 23 metres below the surface. 

The team oversaw the project management, build and integration of the new system - an Ion-M active system with fibre fed remotes.

Keeping the trains running

As this was an active rail line, it was important that we managed the installation without disrupting the train services. The team also needed to retain the existing connectivity throughout the build, then fully cutting over and decommissioning and removing the
superseded equipment.

In order to keep the trains moving the team worked in a three-hour window between 1am and 4am between Sunday and Thursday. Despite the challenges the team delivered a great outcome for the customer and for the passengers taking the airport train.