London Overground to offer free Wi-Fi to passengers

The London Overground has signed a contract with BSkyB's Wi-Fi service The Cloud to provide free internet access at its 56 stations in the capital.

Passengers will have up to 60 minutes' access to Wi-Fi each day at each station after registering once at any of the London Overground stations.

"Access to the internet is no longer limited solely to home or to the workplace, and people's expectation is to be able to work and communicate effectively and seamlessly while they're on the move, so we're delighted to support this initiative which will bring reliable, free Wi-Fi to London Overground's customers," said Steve Murphy, managing director of London Overground.

London Overground said that the rollout of Wi-Fi will begin this summer and that 12 stations will have access to the service by the end of the year.

These are Willesden Junction, West Hampstead, New Cross Gate, Forest Hill, West Croydon, Norwood Junction, Surrey Quays, Dalston, Wapping, Hackney Central, Kensington Olympia and Shepherd's Bush.

The announcement comes a few weeks after Virgin Media was awarded a contract to provide Wi-Fi on the London Underground.

However, unlike the Overground deal, access to Virgin Media's service will only be free for the Olympic games this summer and will then be turned into a pay-as-you-go service available as part of Virgin Media's broadband and mobile subscription packages.

Wi-Fi network The Cloud was acquired by BSkyB last month and its service is being trialled in 10 of retail giant Marks & Spencer's stores.