Better WiFi for hundreds of trains under government plans

The WiFi on hundreds of Britain's main line trains is set to be upgraded under government plans.

New technology will be rolled out on more than 1,400 trains across the UK allowing them to connect to low-earth satellites, which ministers say will provide faster and more reliable service than the mobile networks currently powering on-board WiFi.

A government source said the upgrade would "rocket boost connectivity on every main line train in Britain over the next few years, tackling both slow speeds and irritating not-spots".

Campaign groups welcomed the move but said passengers' main concerns remained the cost and reliability of rail travel.

The plans follow a trial of satellite connectivity across operators including LNER, South Western Railway and Great Western Railway, with the technology to be rolled out across nationalised main line services through funding worth £57m.

The government hopes it will improve WiFi availability across journeys from between 50-60% to at least 90%, and prove more effective than the current system of relying on 4G and 5G signal provided by local mobile network operators' masts.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to make an announcement about the plans this summer.

Campaign group Rail Future told the BBC it was "absolutely right that reliability and capacity increase", calling WiFi "not just an add-on or a luxury".

Spokesman Bruce Williamson said patchy WiFi was not the "top priority" for passengers - "the key issues remain the cost of travel, overcrowding and reliability".

"But anything we can do to attract people onto the railways has got to be a good thing."

The Campaign for Better Transport, which advocates for sustainable and accessible travel, said the move would be a "real step change".

"It's worth taking a step to recognise how fantastic that is, and it adds a real USP to rail travel," said the campaign's Michael Solomon Williams.

He said unreliable internet was not something which had been stopping passengers from travelling via train - rather, the main issues were fares, delays and cancellations.

But he said it was not a matter of paying to fix one problem at the expense of another, and said ministers were working to tackle fares and service reliability.

Transport Focus, the independent watchdog representing the interests of Britain's public transport passengers, said it welcomed any improvements to tackling internet "blackspots".

"Rail passengers have been clear for years that reliable connectivity on trains is no longer a 'nice to have' - it's essential."

A government source said: "Getting online while on a train has been a perennial annoyance for passengers."

They said they were "tackling the bread-and-butter issues passengers care about most to build a railway people can rely on and be proud of" as they set up Great British Railway, a new umbrella body through which rail services and infrastructure will be operated.