DfT investigates upgrades to mobile and Wi-Fi services for train passengers
Officials at the Department for Transport (DfT) are investigating how to improve mobile phone and Wi-Fi services for train passengers.
There was a lot of chatter last year about whether train companies should stop offering free Wi-Fi in trains at all as a cost-saving measure, but the difficulty is that mobile phone coverage is still too unreliable along railways to be a viable alternative.
This is an oddity in a way, as mobile phone coverage expansion when phones were new was often along travel corridors, such as motorways and railway lines, so that people could keep in touch while travelling. In the earlier times, that wasn’t so difficult with towers spread along the railways, but as digital phones replaced older analogue handsets, and with modern high-speed data requirements, the base stations now need to be much closer together, leaving coverage gaps in rural areas where the railways pass.
The Department for Transport is now looking at what can be done to improve matters.
In a written answer to James Naish MP, the Minister for Local Transport, Simon Lightwood, said that he had “asked my officials to explore the feasibility of a range of technology options to improve passenger connectivity on the rail network.”
He added “The Department is also measuring the strength of mobile signals along the rail network to fully understand where interventions are needed.”
The two issues are related, as most Wi-Fi services in trains rely on connecting to local mobile phone towers to provide their internet connections. So boosting mobile phone services would improve train Wi-Fi services.
So much so that future train services might need to offer Wi-Fi at all, because the phone signal is good enough as it is. Indeed, when it opens HS2 trains are being built without Wi-Fi, but with indoor phone signal boosters to ensure a strong phone signal throughout the journey.
In the long term, you should be able to use mobile data on a phone without first deciding which data provider to use.
Starlink would be a great option to provide high-quality wi-fi coverage on trains. Many airlines are rolling this out to their fleet.
That would be a very expensive way of providing a tiny amount of extra bandwidth.
Not so good for people with lower data allowances or tourists though. Wifi is essential when travelling abroad as data can be ridiculously expensive.
Data isn’t as expensive as it used to be, and with services like Sim local, roaming is affordable too.
Train WiFi is a useful stopgap sometimes but ultimately mobile data is going to provide greater bandwidth and be more reliable.
Not at all true. Deals with plenty of data, we’re talking multiple GB, are abundant now at minimal cost. I’m typing this on a phone with 35gb of data and I paid £1.99. better than using unsecure WiFi too. Biggest issue is there simply aren’t enough 5G masts to meet the demand due to sclerotic planning rules. Best thing for the Govt to do is lease out land alongside railways for masts where available, with a derogation for planning rules for monopole masts of xyz height.
It’s not just rural areas with big coverage gaps!
I always get frustrated when coming into Kings Cross on the ECML that there is pretty much no coverage once you enter London. (I’m on a network that uses Vodafone; not sure if other providers are better.)
Annoyingly it’s often just when I’m trying to look up which tube to get etc.
Oh yes, pretty much nothing between Clapham Junction and Surbiton either
The service is often patchy, and occasionally downright useless – despite your phone telling you it’s a good service, which suggests inadequate capacity.
It may be my memory, but I recall a much better service when they first provided it – maybe that was via 4G, and 5G can’t match it outside towns?
Forget wifi make it a requirement to have a seat on train and not having to stand.
Reliable Internet connection on trains (by whatever method) makes train travel more attractive as you can work (or play) whilst travelling and make use of the time. Time that is dead if just driving. So I would have thought a worthwhile investment to encourage people onto the railways and out of their cars.