Trains: WiFi

(asked on 18th July 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of WiFi on passenger trains.


Answered by
Huw Merriman Portrait
Huw Merriman
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
This question was answered on 24th July 2023

The Department previously commissioned Transport Focus' 'Keeping connected: passengers’ experience of internet connectivity on Great Britain’s railways' report, published on 24 July 2020, assessing on-train wifi and mobile operator connectivity.

Today the on-train wifi equipment, and hence the passenger experience, depends on the availability of adequate mobile signals.

We are working with Network Rail, to repeat the measurements of mobile operator signals across the rail network, previously published by Ofcom in 2019.The Department aims to publish this data in late 2024.

The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology in their Wireless Infrastructure Strategy has also asked Ofcom to increase their reporting of coverage on the rail network with an objective of reporting this annually and presenting this "in a way that provides meaningful information to consumers."

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