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First UK On-Train WiFi Service Launches Monday

Posted by timothy on from the train-travel-rules dept.

dave writes "UK train company GNER starts trials of the UK's first on-train wireless Internet access service. Currently only available on limited services and in First Class; if the trial is successful the service will be rolled out across the entire fleet in both Standard and First Class."

10 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. The real cost... by chill · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...was making the first class coaches into Faraday Cages so the dweebs in Stanard Class couldn't snag some airtime.

    I can also see some desparate geek trying to download his e-mail -- while zipping along at 100 kph in his car, parallel to the train.

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    1. Re:The real cost... by Threni · · Score: 2, Funny

      >We use mph in the UK and our high speed trains - the type which GNER operate -
      >run at 125mph. The road speed limit is 70mph btw so it's not that likely :o)

      Yes, but in reality people travel at closer to 90mph on the motorways, and you'll be lucky if your train travels above 50mph for more than 2 or 3 miles at a time before encountering a broken track, sleeping/drunken driver missing a red light, a delay due to a failed train ahead or industrial action bringing the entire network to a standstill!

    2. Re:The real cost... by bonsaiburner · · Score: 4, Funny

      Fact is you could probably *walk* next to the train and get a decent connection... 5MPH seems to be about the average speed of a UK train these days, that's if a train turns up at all...

      Nice to see GNER have got their priorities straight - the state of our railway system leaves a lot to be desired and I'm sure the money could be better spent - and that's from a geek with as much wireless tech as anyone else :)

  2. Re:what a stupid idea by skinfitz · · Score: 2, Funny

    WiFi is fine, but packing 200 passengers into a small train carriage and allowing each to use a WiFi transmitter is just stupid.

    Not as stupid as packing 200 passengers into a small train carriage that has CAT5 cabling trailing everywhere!

  3. Thank you... by blowdart · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now maybe people will send "I'm on the train" emails, instead of forcing the whole carriage to listen to one half of your mobile phone conversation.

  4. Residents near the train tracks get free WiFi too! by IvyMike · · Score: 3, Funny

    30 seconds at a time, several times a day, that is. "The 14:55 from Aberdeen's coming, get ready to hit reload!"

  5. Will we notice the difference? by SW6 · · Score: 5, Funny
    "The. Eight. Oh two. Packets to. London. Are running approximately. Sixty Five. Minutes late. GNER apologise for the late running of your Internet Connection."

    "The nine-*crackle* packets from *garble* will now be arriving at platform *mumble*."

  6. Rail safety ... by JonyEpsilon · · Score: 4, Funny
    You will experience approximately the same kind of quality as with a DSL connection though the connection speed will vary based on obstacles along the railway track

    Never mind the connection speed varying - we're all gonna die !

  7. Re:The problem I have with trains by 0123456 · · Score: 2, Funny

    "If they are delayed it is almost never more than 10 minutes and if it is greater than 10 minutes it's usually due to something weird like lightning hitting the tracks or some other thing."

    Which is fine if you have nothing better to do with your time. Some of us actually travel in order to get somewhere, and not to "enjoy" sitting on a train full of drunken football hooligans, beggars and people coughing and sneezing all over us.

    I live on a direct rail line in and out of London, yet if I want to go to London for the evening at a specific time I have to allow at least an hour for delays, cancellations and that idiot who's always at the front of the queue wanting a ticket from Aberystwyth to Edinburgh via Dover with a student's railcard on the special five day trip travelling with a ferret discount scheme and, while they're here, can they check train times from Bristol to Prague?

    Seriously, I've travelled on trains in about a dozen countries, and I've never had to put up with the same kind of crap that we get in the UK. The sooner the railways are actually, really privatised rather than being farmed out to government cronies to run, the better we'll all be: not because services will improve, but because the private owners will rip up the tracks and sell off the land.

    "Get on whatever train you want come back on whatever train you want at any time"

    Uh, I can only wonder where exactly you're living if you can "come back on whatever train you want at any time". My last train from London is about 11:30 in the evening. That's pathetic for a main line service from the largest city in the country.

  8. Re:Speed and happiness by DanBrusca · · Score: 2, Funny

    "The question therefore is: will on-board internet links make life better or worse for travellers? And the answer is obviously "yes"."

    Hmmm...

    I think 'better' or 'worse' would have been more obvious answers ;)