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infoman
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« on: November 17, 2025, 06:37:05 » |
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A new UK▸ -first pilot scheme is aiming to create fast and more reliable train wi-fi, using technology originally developed for Formula 1 cars.
It will see a train in the Great Western Railway fleet use a hybrid system of both signals from mobile phone masts on the ground and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites in space to create a more reliable connection.
The scheme has been developed by British tech company Motion Applied, in partnership with the transport body for Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay, Peninsula Transport.
The pilot will last for 60 days onboard GWR▸ 's Intercity Express Train which runs in the South West region, having started in mid-November.
In a recent study by networking testing firm Ookla, external, the UK ranked 16th out of 18 major European and Asian countries for train wi-fi speed, with average download speeds at just 1.09 megabits per second, compared to Sweden's 64.58.
Nick Fry, chairman of Motion Applied, external, formerly part of McLaren Group, said the issues faced in connecting to the internet from a fast moving train had "many parallels with motorsport".
He added that by using technology originally developed for F1 cars, trains should be able to switch between ground and space-based networks such as LEO satellites to "reliably connect" without drop outs.
In the 2025 spending review, the Department of Transport secured £41m to introduce low earth orbit satellite connectivity on all mainline trains by 2030.
'A step in the right direction'
Councillor Dan Rogerson, from the Peninsula Transport board, called the pilot a "major milestone" in its plans to modernise transport infrastructure across the South West and South Wales.
"It's not just about passenger wi-fi," he said. "This is about a whole new digital backbone for our transport networks".
Bruce Williamson from the campaign group Railfuture told the BBC» the scheme appeared to be "really good news".
"We're all increasingly connected these days, and wi-fi has become more and more of an essential service for travellers. I'm not going to hold my breath, but this is a step in the right direction."
In May, South Western Railway launched its own, separate, "superfast" wi-fi rollout for its trains between Earlsfield and Basingstoke, using trackside poles and antennas to create a bespoke 5G rail network.
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stuving
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« Reply #2 on: November 17, 2025, 11:57:10 » |
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And where did the BBC» get it from? Probably this, from Railway News: Peninsula Transport Debuts Superfast Wi-Fi Pilot at Paddington
Author: Joey Stoate Published: 17 Nov 2025
The UK▸ has debuted its very-first train to utilise pilot ‘next generation’ Wi-Fi technology.
GWR▸ ’s Intercity Express Train, which was developed by Peninsula Transport in partnership with Motion Applied, Great Western Railway (GWR), Network Rail, and Hitachi, made its debut alongside a Formula 1 car today (17 November 2025) at London Paddington Station.
Using a new, hybrid system that aggregates signals from both ground-based cellular masts and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites; the pilot hopes to provide superfast, reliable speeds without the need to invest in trackside infrastructure, enabling the rollout of the technology across the UK’s rail network.
The introduction of the train comes following an announcement made by the Department for Transport (DfT» ) in June that pledged to eliminate mobile signal blackspots in tunnels along a number of rail routes across the country – including the 4-kilometre-long Chipping Sodbury tunnel near Bristol.
As part of the deal, mobile network operators have also pledged to invest in a slew of new 4G/5G infrastructure at both Bristol Temple Meads and London Paddington Station. The DfT has since secured an additional 41 million GBP as part of the 2025 Spending Review to introduce low-earth-orbit satellite connectivity on all mainline trains, which aims to improve the availability and connection speeds for Wi-Fi by 2030.
Both say that this £41M was allocated in the Spending Review, which it wasn't. It's part of the New Industrial Strategy of a couple of weeks later. No doubt in the Treasury's towering hierarchy of numbers it's part of something in the Spending Review, but not obviously. Like most things these days it may well be clever, but its cleverness is so oversold it's hard to tell. Looked at one way it's a step on from Icomera's system of combining all the mobile phone signals a train can get hold of to make a reasonably continuous backhaul for WiFi. This time they add in other radiocomms services to reduce the number of total blackouts along the route. From another direction these guys worked in F1 for teams with a lot to spend on radiocomms kit that's small, light, sets up quickly to work anywhere in the world, etc. That has given them a product that has advantages in a train. What no-one's letting on is whose LEO satellites they will use! Maybe they have tried to be independent and hope to sign up to whatever they can at the time (though we all know most of the satellite's are Elon's). |
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Mark A
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« Reply #3 on: November 17, 2025, 12:00:19 » |
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A couple of years ago, wasn't the DfT» , looking for a saving, querying why trains need wifi provision at all?
Mark
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ChrisB
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« Reply #4 on: November 17, 2025, 12:06:03 » |
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GWR▸ ’s Intercity Express Train, which was developed by Peninsula Transport in partnership with Motion Applied, Great Western Railway (GWR), Network Rail, and Hitachi, made its debut alongside a Formula 1 car today (17 November 2025) at London Paddington Station. Pennisular Transport had input into the design of the IET▸ ?.....that's a new claim? |
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JohnM
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« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2025, 06:38:29 » |
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Got this when I activated wifi on the 1700 Bristol-Paddington IET▸ yesterday: [Image from here is not available to guests]New to me; "Formula One-grade connectivity"  |
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JohnM
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« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2025, 07:13:53 » |
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...and when I hit the "accept & connect" I got this: [Image from here is not available to guests] Although it did appear to have connected ok. |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2025, 09:26:42 » |
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I've merged a couple of topics here, as they relate to the same scheme. CfN▸ . |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: Stop, Look, Listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2026, 15:50:15 » |
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From the BBC» : Train wi-fi upgrades will 'transform' businesses[Image from here is not available to guests]The government said £12m of its £57m investment in rail wi-fi nationally would be on services in the west and south west of England and WalesHaving reliable and high-speed wi-fi on trains could be "transformative" for businesses, an expert on rural branch lines in Cornwall says.A UK▸ -first pilot scheme for faster internet connections on trains, using technology originally developed for Formula 1 cars, was launched on Great Western Railway ( GWR▸ ) services in the South West in November 2025. The government said it would invest £57m in rail wi-fi nationally as part of its scheme Project Reach, with £12m of that being spent in the west and south west of England and Wales. Deputy editor of Modern Railways magazine Andy Bowes-Roden said businesses currently faced a "time penalty" due to "patchy" internet connections on trains. "Getting anywhere up-country takes a long time and, while you can do some work with the existing internet system, it relies on mobile phone data, and that can be very patchy in plenty of areas of Cornwall and beyond where there's not a signal," Bowes-Roden said. [Image from here is not available to guests]Deputy editor of Modern Railways magazine Andy Bowes-Roden said having fast and reliable wi-fi on trains would be a "game changer" for Cornwall"Having high-speed reliable broadband on the trains effectively eliminates almost all of that time penalty for businesses because you can do all of the things you can do in an office." He said for him personally, having fast connectivity on the train would be a "game changer". The government said Project Reach was a multi-year scheme, with the first installation of mobile infrastructure expected to begin in 2026 and be fully rolled out by 2028. It said: "The project's innovative commercial model brings together public and private sector investment and infrastructure and is expected to save taxpayers around £300m while creating a high-performing digital connectivity backbone for businesses, supporting the UK's digital ambitions." Bowes-Roden said instead of the government viewing it as an investment in rail network, it would be a "clearer case" if its focus was on businesses. "It hits so many of the government's objectives in terms of regional growth, regional inequality and boosting businesses," he said. "For a relatively small investment from government, the returns look like they'll be absolutely fantastic." A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said it continued to work with transport bosses and GWR to assess the success of the pilot scheme and how wi-fi could be improved on the network. "We understand connectivity on trains can be patchy, which is why we're working to harness cutting-edge satellite technology to ensure passengers can enjoy fast, reliable internet on our mainline trains," they added. "Great British Railways will deliver a railway fit for the 21st Century, with more comfortable and convenient trains for passengers." |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: Stop, Look, Listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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JohnM
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« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2026, 15:56:10 » |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2026, 18:16:00 » |
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Thanks, matth1j: I've now merged all the previous posts into this definitive topic. |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: Stop, Look, Listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2026, 21:28:20 » |
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From the BBC» Why Britain's notoriously bad train wi-fi might soon be a thing of the past
I'm sitting on the 09:00 from London to Norwich and something unusual is happening: my wi-fi connection on board is largely stable.
I can check my emails, message my team back in the office, and have clear audio calls.
In the same carriage, Rebecca Kendall has also been able to crack on with work on her two-hour commute - but she tells me this isn't always the case. It's a story familiar to many rail passengers - but things may be about to get better.
Rebecca, 36, takes the train about six times a month in her role as head of operations for a charity, and spends her journeys sending emails and instant messages as well as using software. The connection can be mixed, and sometimes the wi-fi "doesn't work at all", she says.
On a typical journey, Rebecca estimates she can manage only about half the tasks she would normally be able to get through at her desk. When she has audio calls, she forewarns her colleagues she might lose connection.
"I just wouldn't risk having an important video call," Rebecca says, citing how unstable the connection often is. "I would never plan one."
Many rail passengers in the UK▸ will be familiar with the frustrations of on-board wi-fi. Sometimes it's impossible to get any connection, or the signal will be temperamental throughout the journey. Mobile data can be unreliable, too - especially when trains travel through tunnels.
A 2025 report, external by network testing company Ookla ranked the UK's onboard wi-fi speed as 16th of 18 major European and Asian countries. Average speeds in the UK are 1.09 Megabits per second (Mbps), compared to 64.58 Mbps in Sweden and 29.79 Mbps in Switzerland, the report found.
Away from the tracks, the average maximum download speed for UK households and small businesses is a much swifter 285 Mbps, according to Ofcom.
/cont Using Elon Musk's near satellite broadband, you can kiss goodbye to peaceful train journeys. Web seminars/meetings/calls & streaming TV▸ & audio - all without headphones. "I'm on the train, dear!"
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grahame
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« Reply #12 on: June 01, 2026, 04:47:32 » |
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I would concur that current WiFi performance on board UK▸ trains leaves much to be desired - and it's not necessarily a fault of the train operators, rather the effect of growing customer expectations and the failure of the train providers (OK, perhaps I am pointing a finger) to keep up with those expectations. And - these days - on train WiFi is a "free" service, or rather it's included in the cost of your ticket, so the economics of it get interesting when someone suggest providing better - "Who's going to pay for it?" From that article ... This week, the government announced plans to boost train wi-fi speed and reliability over the next five years. Technology will be rolled out across 1,400 trains on mainline nationalised services allowing them to connect to low-earth satellites, instead of mobile networks.
The government says it hopes to improve the availability of wi-fi from the current 50-60% to at least 90%, as well as increasing the speed between five- and 10-fold.
The Department for Transport (DfT» ) says it plans to spend £57m on the project. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to formally announce the plans this summer. and the stats in a graph (though they say from "selected" countries without defining how they make the selection)  The issues I find when using train WiFi relate not only to speed, but to service dropping out for periods / as the train passes certain places, and perhaps have another access method via satellites will help that. Having said all of which, I find accessing the Coffee Shop online from a train's WiFi much more practical in the UK than accessing other sites I use. Much of that is (I like to remind myself) by design in that it's been kept fiercely thin in its bandwidth needs - and (it must be admitted) it has remained thin because we have not moved on to use some of the bulkier and clever things we could include in our pages. Effect of better train WiFi? Here's a picture I took the other day on a very long distance train - running from Amsterdam (08:31) to Munich (15:43).  I can work out what five of the six people pictured or partially pictured are doing - they are doing things on computers. Picture taken in Germany which comes in 10 times better than the UK in the survey above. And it means that the train is a useful time for these travellers - likely swaying some decisions made between the travel modes available to them. I will admit that the picture is of the cream on the milk - our passes are first class ones as the differential on Interrail makes it a sensible choice. |
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Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Transport User Group, West Wiltshire Rail User Group Committee and TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
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Witham Bobby
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« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2026, 10:30:30 » |
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I tend to use my own 5G data connection when on board, rather than the "free" low performance WiFi
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Clan Line
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« Reply #14 on: June 01, 2026, 11:53:52 » |
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Once they have sorted out the WiFi, wouldn't it be nice to enjoy it whilst sitting in a comfortable seat ? Or is that asking for some technical marvel that is beyond the understanding of our rolling stock procurers ?
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