Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department’s decision to set a 50MB limit on the data allowance for wi-fi on trains agreed with train operators in 2016; and what proportion of rail passengers have reached that maximum data allowance in each year since that limit was introduce.

The Department agreed a specific amount of funding for data when making changes to existing franchise agreements; Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN), South Eastern, Chiltern and Wales and Border (operated by Arriva Trains Wales at the time). Decisions on how this funding is managed, including any data limits, is for the Train Operating Companies (TOCs). The proportion of passengers that reached the maximum data allowance for their journey ranges from 5% to 25%. This varies across TOCs and is highly dependent on the length of journey and passenger usage preferences.