UK leads wifi charge in rail
Monday, 30 Nov, 2010
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The UK has better wifi access on railway journeys than the rest of Europe, according to train ticketing website MyTrainTicket.com.
The ticket retail site says that a new wifi map it has produced shows that the UK now enjoys wide spread availability of wireless internet access.
In stark contrast, availability on Europe’s trains is much more of a hit-and-miss affair.
It says Italy, Spain, Holland and Austria have either no or very limited on-train wifi while France, Belgium only offer the service on very few routes.
In France, it claims only 10% to 15% of TGV trains offer wifi and even then passengers don’t know until they are on board whether they will be the lucky ones with access.
Germany, however, does provide wifi well with the technology being offered on routes connecting Frankfurt with the northern city of Hamburg and from Munich in the south to Cologne in the west.
But the retailer notes that, again, because of last minute train allocations, the passengers cannot know if wifi will be available until they board.
No trains serving Berlin and the east, however, have wifi.
MyTrainTicket.co.uk’s map also highlights the UK’s wifi deficient services – most notably the lack of the technology on the London to the South West and South Wales lines operated by First Great Western and the CrossCountry services that link the South West and the South of England with the North West and Scotland through Birmingham.
Managing Director of MyTrainTicket.co.uk Alistair Lees said: “Wifii, along with other onboard services, is increasingly identified by passengers as an important reason for choosing rail over other forms of transport.
“Just as Britain led the way in establishing railways in the industrial revolution, so the train companies are now at the forefront of the digital revolution, giving passengers the ability to access the internet, emails, media and games while travelling by train. Britain is well ahead of its European counterparts.”
by Dinah Hatch
Dinah
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