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Another UK Train Operator to Launch WiFi On-Board
(01 Sep 2010, BWCS Staff)East Midlands Trains is to become the latest UK rail operator to provide its passengers with on-board WiFi access. The rail company said it will launch the service on its London-Sheffield trains and on the so-called Robin Hood route from London to Nottingham. The connections will be supplied by multiple mobile connections direct to the train.
The train company, which will begin supplying WiFi connections from the 5th of this month, said it plans to offer internet access for free to begin with. However once an unspecified trial period is over, East Midlands Trains said it plans to charge second class passengers £4 an hour of £7.50 a day for access. The service will continue to be free to First Class passengers.
Justifying the fees, the company said that it preferred to try to cover the installation costs of £2 million through service charges rather than putting up fares. Other train operators have taken the view that offering the service for free boosts passenger numbers significantly and can in fact more than cover the costs of installing on-board WiFi access.
The presentations from this year's WiFi on Trains conference are available now, though not for free - unless you attended the conference itself - from www.TrainComms2010.com . BWCS will also be hosting a new conference looking at CCTV services on trains and other forms of transport in November of this year, please see www.CCTVtransport.com or e-mail [email protected] for details.
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