GNER to install broadband on trains

GNER claims it will revolutionise the UK rail industry when it broadband-enables its fleet of high-speed trains.

From next year, travellers using east coast mainline, which runs between London's Kings Cross and Aberdeen and Inverness, will be able to use Wi-Fi-enabled laptops and handheld computers to access the internet or check their emails from the train.

GNER believes the service will be such a success that passengers will shun other forms of transport in favour of the train.

"This is a major development and will be a huge technical breakthrough in terms of UK domestic travel," a GNER spokesman told vnunet.com's sister title Computing.

The train operator will start a three-month trial on one train next month operating between London and Scotland.

Subject to the results, it will then roll out a full service to its fleet of 10 refurbished diesel powered 125s, and on 30 newly built electric 225 locomotives.

The train operator is working on the trial with a Swedish firm called Icomera, which is responsible for getting the first commercial Wi-Fi service installed on trains in Scandinavia.

GNER will use satellite-based wireless broadband networks on its trains, and claims there is 99 per cent coverage on the east cost mainline route. When the train passes through a tunnel, the connection may be interrupted, but it will not be lost.

There will be no limit to the number of passengers who can use the service at any given time, and the wireless nature of the broadband eliminates the needs for sockets to be installed.

"Passengers will be able to work, keep in touch, access up-to-the-minute travel information and browse the internet while they are travelling," said GNER chief executive Christopher Garnett.

"We hope the new service will encourage more people to take train instead of driving or flying."