Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department made of the potential impact of onboard connectivity and mobile signal coverage on productivity and passenger experience on long-distance rail services in the South West.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is committed to improving on-train Wi-Fi for passengers, including on the Great Western Railways route, where poor connectivity remains an issue. That is why we have secured £57 million as part of the recent Spending Review to improve on train Wi-Fi using low earth orbit satellite connectivity on our mainline trains, which will include services on the Great Western Railways route. Officials have also been working with the Peninsula Taskforce and Motion Applied on the trial Peninsula Taskforce funded to test low earth orbit and 5G connectivity. The tests on the train itself have evidently been successful. Other operators, such as London North Eastern Railways, have also shown that low earth orbit 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.

Network Rail's Project Reach will also address mobile connectivity in 57 key mainline tunnels, which include ones on the Great Western Railways route, and this will complement the low earth orbit solution.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the pilot of enhanced onboard Wi-Fi services on Great Western Railway routes in the South West and South Wales.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is committed to improving on-train Wi-Fi for passengers, including on the Great Western Railways route, where poor connectivity remains an issue. That is why we have secured £57 million as part of the recent Spending Review to improve on train Wi-Fi using low earth orbit satellite connectivity on our mainline trains, which will include services on the Great Western Railways route. Officials have also been working with the Peninsula Taskforce and Motion Applied on the trial Peninsula Taskforce funded to test low earth orbit and 5G connectivity. The tests on the train itself have evidently been successful. Other operators, such as London North Eastern Railways, have also shown that low earth orbit 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.

Network Rail's Project Reach will also address mobile connectivity in 57 key mainline tunnels, which include ones on the Great Western Railways route, and this will complement the low earth orbit solution.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to support the rollout of enhanced onboard Wi-Fi services across Great Western Railway routes.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department is committed to improving on-train Wi-Fi for passengers, including on the Great Western Railways route, where poor connectivity remains an issue. That is why we have secured £57 million as part of the recent Spending Review to improve on train Wi-Fi using low earth orbit satellite connectivity on our mainline trains, which will include services on the Great Western Railways route. Officials have also been working with the Peninsula Taskforce and Motion Applied on the trial Peninsula Taskforce funded to test low earth orbit and 5G connectivity. The tests on the train itself have evidently been successful. Other operators, such as London North Eastern Railways, have also shown that low earth orbit 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.

Network Rail's Project Reach will also address mobile connectivity in 57 key mainline tunnels, which include ones on the Great Western Railways route, and this will complement the low earth orbit solution.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department’s award notice entitled UK5 - Transparency Notice, published 17 December 2025, what definition the Department uses for technical lock‑in.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence does not use a single formal definition of ‘technical lock in’. In the context of the referenced award, the term is used to describe situations where changing a supplier would create disproportionate operational technical difficulty, disruption, or incompatibility with existing systems.

Protection and restoration of ancient woodland

Torbay Hospital

Endometriosis Awareness Month 2026

Funding for rural fire and rescue services

King's Guard's ceremonial bearskin caps

Dolphin hunting in the Faroe Islands

Mountain rescue in Cumbria

Food Bill

International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance

Submit Evidence (by 14 May 2026)

AI model sizes and data volumes are growing significantly. At the same time, areas like quantum computing and protein synthesis also require increasing amounts of computational power.