Though it’s one of the oldest and most complex transit systems in the world, the NYC subway is often scoffed at by visitors arriving on flights to New York City for lagging behind its European counterparts. However, it’s been a good week for the much maligned MTA of New York.

We told you earlier about new iPad-style touch-screens coming to several stations throughout the city. Now, a long awaited plan to bring cell phone service underground in the Big Apple is poised to bear fruit.

According to an anonymous source, cell phone service will be made available at six stations in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan beginning on Tuesday, September 27. Signals will cover the platforms and mezzanines of the stations but extend only a short way into tunnels.

There is a hitch…for now. Only AT&T and T-Mobile customers will be able to find a signal. Sprint and Verizon phones will be accommodated in the near future.

The company wiring the subways for service, Transit Wireless, plans to have all 271 stations cell-phone ready within five years.

Source: CBS News