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back to article UK is first class for train Wi-Fi in Europe

On-train wireless internet connectivity is growing fast in Europe - but even faster in the UK, which now has more than 2,000 Wi-Fi equipped carriages. This supposedly makes passengers far more productive during their waking hours, much to the annoyance of rail operator HS2. Tech consultancy BWCS has been looking at the …

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        1. Anonymous Coward
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          Anonymous Coward

          Re: You must work for HS2

          "Note what i said. No such "assumption". The business case doesn't contain any assumption on the topic of productivity, it contains a pretty comprehensive meta-analysis of the topic (even a meta-meta-analysis in some cases). That's not what we call an assumption, that's what we call science."

          What utter crap. The "meta-analysis" might as well be metaphysics. HS2 is a ghastly unecessary boondoggle, promoted by those who benefit from it, and supported by utterly unfeasible numbers. As somebody who has managed a multi-billion pound investment programme, I know a shit business case when I see one. As somebody in the target market (West Mids to London business traveller) I can see no material benefit only vast cost. And even with the vast expense of HS2 the wankers who have planned this have decided on a Curzon Street terminus in Birmingham, which is totally unconnected to the city's existing transport infrastructure, it just happens to be an unsued patch of land, rather inconveniently sited. At Euston, you've got a very, very poor interchange for onward connections to the City, and a terminal building that's barely suitable for current levels of traffic. And for onward travel, they haven't even thought the obvious of taking it into St Pancras to make a proper high speed route interchange.

          If the incompetent turds at the Department for Transport wish to upgrade the network to meet this incredible growth in capacity, then all they need to do is (a) convert the existing first class carriages to second, and (b) lengthen the Pendolinos by two carriages. There's a few platforms need lengthening, but those changes alone would increase the seating capacity of each train by around 50%.

          And finally you obviously haven't been paying attention, but the HS1 link to the Channel tunnel has left the taxpayer sitting on an extra £4.8 billion of debt. Why won't people like you learn? I can understand people like Cameron wanting this, because it'll be his rich mates wanting to build it, and because the man is utterly clueless. You quote the business case numbers as though they were fact - they aren't. They are estimates, and projections, if you like guesses. No commercial financier would touch HS2 if their return were dependant upon the accuracy of the numbers. But tax payers? We've got twat MP's top make the decision on our behalf, and everybody knows public money is free.

          What's your excuse for thinking that HS2 makes sense?

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  2. John Burton

    cost

    And if it didn't cost £40 a month on virgin trains it might be useful ...

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    First Great Western

    Is there WiFi on any of FGW's trains? Or is this another service they've neglected - along with customer service, punctuality, sufficient trains and new rolling stock?

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Enhanced 3G my arse

    Travelled Birmingham to Euston twice last week on Virgin Trains. Both times the label by my seat said "enhanced mobile reception on this train". Both times I lost my connection (Three network USB dongle) in every tunnel.

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  5. Daniel Hill
    Stop

    Not sure you can really call HS2 a 'Rail Operator' yet, as it hasn't even got permission to build the track to operate on!

    South West Trains have just announced a roll-out of Wifi to their Class 444 'long-distance' fleet, but not the Class 450 outer-suburban stock.

    This would make sense, except they tend to chop and change between the two types on some lines. Class 450s are used as far as Portsmouth in the peaks (surely when there'd be most demand for wi-fi) , and they even occasionally make it all the way to Weymouth!

    What would be useful is having reliable free wifi in the London Terminals. Trying to get a 3G signal on GiffGaff (O2) in the evening peak is nigh on impossible, because the networks are simply swamped by all the commuters doing the same.

    Even worse if you are trying to look up train information during disruption (when you can get better info form Twitter or the National Rail app than the staff or screens at the station!)

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Free wifi in UK is a Joke

    I just returned to the UK from my current life in the far east, where free wifi means you just have to ask for a password.

    Everywhere i went in the UK that was public wanted a credit card to get 30 mins of free wifi.

    Has the ASDA 'forever' bug hit the rest of the UK,

    The only place that i found was free was a weatherspoons pub which offered "the cloud" which only required an email to get 30 mins fee.

    Also wifi is pretty sparse in the UK compared to over here where almost every bar / shop / train station / tube station etc etc has free wifi.

    Tap yourselves on the back UK for being up there with Germany, but really Europe is still down in the toilet when it comes to competition in tech.

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  7. JohnG

    Work not possible without WiFi?

    Whilst there are activities which require Internet connectivity (like email), reviewing documents, writing documents, changing project plans, creating drawings, coding, etc. are all things which can be done with a little forward planning and not internet connection.

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    not South West trains it isnt

    For reading email, 3G connectivity isn't bad from a train in the UK,"

    Has the article writer ever used the train from Portsmouth to Waterloo - even within spitting distance of teh capaital on either O2 or Vodi the signal is pathetic at best, whether it be on Blackberry, iPhone, Ipad or Laptop....

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  9. welshie

    The suggestion about wifi on trains making HS2 unnecessary is bogus. Passenger numbers on trains are rising, the network is running over capacity for much of the time. There are only so many carriages full of wifi swilling, pasty eating, self-loading freight that can fit down a railway track in a given time.

    The main requirement for HS2 is to rebuild capacity into the network, much of which was taken away in the Beeching Years, because it wasn't just branch lines that were cut, the main lines, such as the Great Central Railway, along whose route HS2 is due to follow in part.

    And so, if you're (re-)building a brand new railway track, as an engineer, you'd at least try to build it to modern standards, and capable of high speeds.

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