Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the costs and benefits of different methods of achieving reliable on-board WiFi on trains, including satellite technologies and technologies requiring trackside equipment.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

As part of the Spending Review planning, the Department produced analysis of the costs and benefits of both Low Earth Orbit satellite technology and trackside infrastructure working with industry partners to validate costs.

These were shared with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of productivity losses as a result of business travellers being unable to maintain a fast and reliable internet connection on trains.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

As part of the Spending Review planning, the Department considered the productivity improvements for all travellers, including business travellers, that will arise from providing faster more reliable internet connectivity on trains. This was undertaken in in accordance with our transport appraisal guidance. And as a result, the Department was successful in securing funding to deploy low earth orbit satellite (LEO) technology for onboard Wi-Fi on mainline trains.

Trials using LEO have proven this technology provides high speeds – up to 200 megabits per second, enabling passengers to receive a much better mobile connection through the on-train Wi-Fi than they receive today.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are the specifications for the new rolling stock of Great British Railways in terms of vehicle penetration loss and other criteria that can affect the reception of mobile phone and WiFi signals within carriages.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

Southeastern, Northern Trains Limited and Transpennine Trains are responsible for the specification of the new trains which are being procured and we would expect them to include the needs of passengers including the use of mobile phones on trains. The Department is currently developing a Rolling Stock and Infrastructure Strategy that will set out the approach to rolling stock for GBR in the future.