Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) standard of wifi services provided by train operators, (b) trends in the standards of that service over the last three years and (c) effectiveness of incentives for train operators to provide high quality wifi services.

In general under the Department’s National Rail Contracts and Service Contracts, wifi quality standards are for train operators to determine. In 2020, the Department commissioned Transport Focus to undertake research of the availability and quality of internet and voice connectivity available to passengers. This provided a snapshot of the comparative performance.

The choice of mobile operator(s) – used to provide the mobile connection between the on-train wifi systems and the internet – and the coverage and technology (3G, 4G or 5G) that is available serving the rail corridor can vary considerably by individual route and region. SWR are developing superfast 5G Wi-Fi technology, which will be installed between Earlsfield and Basingstoke in 2024. This superfast trackside solution will be fully integrated with their existing on-board Wi-Fi service, delivering an enhanced connectivity solution for SWR mainline passengers.

We continue to work closely with Network Rail to improve connectivity on the rail corridor and Project Reach is a Network Rail led transaction seeking private sector investment in rail telecoms.