On-train wifi at risk

[Oldddudders]

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65673622

 

Another nail in the coffin of first class travel. Using a laptop in standard class isn't always easy. It's very commonplace in first. Business travellers will not be impressed. 

[phil-b259]

How typical - when will the thick people at the DfT realise that you are not going to attract passengers back to the trains if you are constantly making the experience worse!

 

With rail fares so high that if there is more than one person making the trip using a car is much cheaper in cost terms, Rail has to compete largely on service and amenities - both of which a steady being ripped up by idiots in Whitehall and their political masters who are inching to find ways of cutting taxes before or after the next election and to hell with the consequences.

 

Meanwhile the DfT continues to waste millions with stupid but expensive deckchair re- arranging like GBR!

Edited May 22, 2023 by phil-b259

[Talltim]

The wifi tends to be worse than just hotspotting off your phone anyway

[phil-b259]

Just now, Talltim said:

The wifi tends to be worse than just hotspotting off your phone anyway

It might be - but not everyone wants to sign up to expensive phone contracts with large data allowances, particularly tourists or the elderly both of whom might well be more likely to use rail.

 

[009 micro modeller]

10 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

It might be - but not everyone wants to sign up to expensive phone contracts with large data allowances, particularly tourists or the elderly both of whom might well be more likely to use rail.

 

Exactly - but the fact that the on-train WiFi doesn’t always work reliably is also likely to make people avoid situations where they have to use it, so the solution is to improve it not get rid of it. It’s laughable that the government/DfT apparently thinks it’s ‘a low priority for passengers’.

[Fishoutofwater]

A quote from Mr Wolmar :

"People expect to be able to use wi-fi on a train in the same way they would use a toilet," he told the BBC.

 

Really?

The mind boggles!

[kevinlms]

16 minutes ago, Talltim said:

The wifi tends to be worse than just hotspotting off your phone anyway

Safer to use your own data.

[Rich_F]

My experience of train Wifi on Southern & (where units are fitted) Thameslink is very 'meh'. I can connect to it but the speeds are often much slower than the comparative EE 4G network. 

 

I can understand if it's a long distance Intercity train or Cross Country where you might be on the unit for a few hours, but for a commuter line Wifi is probably more a luxury than a necessity. 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Weeny Works

[Southernman46]

Aye - will still be able to access Realtimetrains etc ........... and point out to SWR etc when they / NR are making an operational hash of things or more importantly be able to take evasive action in time 🙄

Edited May 22, 2023 by Southernman46

[Derekl]

I have noticed that Wi-Fi on Thameslink (on the Brighton line) is variable - it tends to slow down as the train gets busier, presumably because there is a limit to what the system can cop with. On fairly empty trains it is fine.

But when you consider that most buses in this area are Wi-Fi equipped, you would expect trains to meet that standard.

[andyman7]

1 hour ago, Talltim said:

The wifi tends to be worse than just hotspotting off your phone anyway

 

59 minutes ago, 009 micro modeller said:

Exactly - but the fact that the on-train WiFi doesn’t always work reliably is also likely to make people avoid situations where they have to use it, so the solution is to improve it not get rid of it. It’s laughable that the government/DfT apparently thinks it’s ‘a low priority for passengers’.

 

58 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

Safer to use your own data.

This is one of those debates which is not quite a straightforward as 'pah, nasty DfT!'. The development of internet services over the past 15 years has been phenomenal, meaning that wi-fi fit for purpose even a few years ago is now often outpaced by the data connection offered on many mobile phone tariffs. So there is a genuine need to to ensure that any investment in a replacement kit on trains really does meet passenger needs. I would suggest that projects such as ensuring consistent mobile signal availability on the Brighton main line might offer better utility and value for money overall compared to an on-train wi-fi that is generally much slower than using a 4G data connection.

[Bernard Lamb]

1 hour ago, Oldddudders said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65673622

 

Another nail in the coffin of first class travel. Using a laptop in standard class isn't always easy. It's very commonplace in first. Business travellers will not be impressed. 

Another nail?

Why not go the whole hog and scrap it like LNWR have done as of this week.

It's a crazy world.

Bernard

[John M Upton]

I have tried on board wi-fi and found it to be somewhat underwhelming.  Signing up required (something I really hate), questionable online security and then you have a limit on how much data you are allowed which can be used up just watching a ten minute video on YouTube.

 

I stick to using personal 4G/5G on my phone and in my experience, very few people seem to bother with onboard wi-fi anymore.

 

 

[Guest]

I think that the long distance operators WILL be able to make a business case to retain it. LNER and GWR should be OK until their Wi-Fi equipment needs replacing - hopefully by then saner heads will prevail at DfT/Treasury.

 

I tend to agree that Wi-Fi on provincial/commuter services is patchy and sometimes pointless and many people don’t use it 

[Chris M]

I saw an interesting article on the philosophy of government run railways compared to private train operators. The private train operators mostly look to increasing revenue to improve financial performance whereas government run railways almost always concentrate on reducing costs. The railways are now effectively government run and this could well be an example of this philosophy.

[009 micro modeller]

33 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

 

 

This is one of those debates which is not quite a straightforward as 'pah, nasty DfT!'. The development of internet services over the past 15 years has been phenomenal, meaning that wi-fi fit for purpose even a few years ago is now often outpaced by the data connection offered on many mobile phone tariffs. So there is a genuine need to to ensure that any investment in a replacement kit on trains really does meet passenger needs. I would suggest that projects such as ensuring consistent mobile signal availability on the Brighton main line might offer better utility and value for money overall compared to an on-train wi-fi that is generally much slower than using a 4G data connection.

I quite often run out of data before the end of the month because of trying to use it on trains where the signal is bad, but this is on trains that should have WiFi but it isn’t working properly.

[The Stationmaster]

Judging by the shambles I suffered frinm this morning on the oart of the Govt wholly owned part of the rail etwork it aooears to me taht on-train staff need wi0-fi to enable themn gto keep their passengers informed of how their journey is beinfg delayed,  

 

GWR on-train staff on the 09.38 Paddington - Paignton were excellent at telling us what was delaying our train and they were clearly using wi-fi to obtain the information.  But presumably DafT don't give a tuppeny damn about customer care - sorry, their actions and words make it plain that they don't give a tuppenny damn.  

 

And all of this today was a consequnce of what might politely be described as juvenile stupidity on the part of 'someone' in wholly state controlled Network Rail's TVSC who put an early running empty stone train out in front of a Class 1 passenger train delaying it by  at least 14 minutes which then got even worse because our train lost its path and lost more time following a Class 2 stopping train between the Frome Avoiding Line and Castle Cary and later was looped at Tiverton Jcn to allow a penzance train to get past.  

 

 

[ClikC]

2 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65673622

 

Another nail in the coffin of first class travel. Using a laptop in standard class isn't always easy. It's very commonplace in first. Business travellers will not be impressed. 

 

Quote

"government said it was a low priority for passengers."

 

Ahh yes, because the Government has never been wrong about anything ever. 🙄

[5944]

WiFi isn't just for passenger use. The TOCs use it for train info - passenger loadings, faults, pax info display screens, energy usage. So it won't be removed, just not available for passenger use. All the equipment, aerials, SIM cards, etc. will still have to be maintained.

[Wheatley]

15 minutes ago, 5944 said:

WiFi isn't just for passenger use. The TOCs use it for train info - passenger loadings, faults, pax info display screens, energy usage. So it won't be removed, just not available for passenger use. All the equipment, aerials, SIM cards, etc. will still have to be maintained.

Exactly. WiFi will still be on trains, just not for passengers. 

[Boris]

Hurrah, no more plebs loudly listening to adult entertainment and playing with themselves publicly...

 

[Kris]

I've never found the onboard wifi to be much use. Hotspotting from my phone is much better. 

[Enterprisingwestern]

11 minutes ago, Boris said:

Hurrah, no more plebs loudly listening to adult entertainment and playing with themselves publicly...

 

 

Blimey, and I thought getting a catering trolley was the highlight of my journey!

 

Mike.

[brushman47544]

Have they considered the issue of tickets on mobile phones? If we are more and more being required to buy electronic tickets how can they then justify removing one of the means of showing it to train staff? Not everyone has a mobile data package that will guarantee access. What about foreigners who aren’t willing to pay outrageous roaming charges? Sounds to me like a perfect defence if challenged to show a valid ticket and you can’t.

[rogerzilla]

You can't even make a 2G voice call on the GWML unless you're sitting in one of the main stations.  Good luck getting a 4G/5G data connection.