Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will work with Avanti to improve internet connectivity on board their trains on the route between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston

The DFT Operator (DFTO), on behalf of the Secretary of State, meet with Avanti West Coast (AWC) regularly to discuss services for passengers, including onboard Wi-Fi connectivity.

AWC is upgrading its onboard Wi-Fi system which is intended to improve connectivity speeds and performance. Additionally, AWC previously completed a positive trial using laser window etching technology to improve connectivity and will be undertaking further testing with the view to roll out across its Class 390 fleet. These projects will improve connectivity for passengers across all AWC services but particularly those operated by Class 390 trains, including the London to Manchester route.

More generally, services on the West Coast Main Line will benefit from the Spending Review funding to deploy low earth orbit satellite connectivity, to significantly improve the on-train Wi-Fi. The DfTO Telecoms Policy team is currently working through the procurement strategy and business case process and further details will be announced in due course. Also, Project Reach will improve the mobile signal in 57 tunnels on the three mainline routes on the East Coast Mainline, West Coast Mainline and Great Western.

Operators are required to achieve challenging customer experience targets across a range of measures, including Wi-Fi connectivity. These standards are regularly and independently inspected via the Service Quality Regime and there are accountability and financial consequences for failure.