A 1.1 mile stretch of Metro tunnels between Potomac Avenue and the Stadium Armory stations will now get cell reception. (Photo by Chris Tank)

Metro riders can now reach their friends, family, bosses, and, criticially, emergency service providers by cellphone on a 1.1 mile stretch of the system’s tunnels.

AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireles launched commercial service today between between the Potomac Avenue and the Stadium Armory stations on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines.

If you’re thinking “hey wait, isn’t this wildly overdue?,” you’re not wrong. Metro had signed a contract in 2008 for the carriers to wire the tunnels, but it was delayed largely due to safety concerns and logistical problems, and the transit agency wound up handling the project. WMATA announced that it would begin laying the radio cables in February.

The push to get this project completed comes after the fatal 2015 smoke incident—in which many passengers were stranded in smoke-filled trains with no cell reception to call for help—and the subsequent pressure from Congress (and everyone else) to enhance its safety measures.

“Riders have told us they want the ability to maintain wireless communication at all times while riding Metro, and this project is responsive to their needs,” Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said in a release. “I am pleased to see the tunnel wiring project move forward under the plan I announced earlier this year.” The agency has said that, once it is complete, they will have installed a length of cables that roughly equates to the distance between D.C. and New York Cit

WMATA also recently launched a pilot project to bring wi-fi service to six downtown stations—Metro Center, Gallery Place, L’Enfant Plaza, Union Station, Judiciary Square, and Archives