News

Two More Train Operators Look to the Skies for WiFi Salvation

(17 Feb 2026, BWCS Staff)
South Western Railway in the UK and privately-owned NTV Italo in Italy are the latest companies to sign up with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service in a bid to bridge coverage gaps along their train routes. However, whilst the UK operator has begun a trial of the service on one train, NTV Italo is planning a full fleet-wide launch in May of this year. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, rival LEO satellite operators Hughes, Eutelsat and Amazon are about to launch new service offerings into this space. British train company SWR says it is currently trialling the Starlink satellite service......

Long-Awaited Satellite to Train WiFi Service to Debut in Kazakhstan

(07 Jan 2026, BWCS Staff)
Kazakhstan is set to become the latest country to introduce a satellite-delivered WiFi on trains service. The country was once home to a trial of satellite-delivered connectivity to trains way back in 2006, but the system was moth-balled following a lengthy trial. Now, the state-owned rail operator will follow in the footsteps of Brightline in the USA, ScotRail in the UK and Lithuanian Railways in adopting satellite as a way of keeping trains connected to the Internet. Other train companies, including SNCF and Deutsche Bahn are known to be mulling a trial of similar services. The......

Two New WiFi on Trains Services Set to Hit the Tracks

(05 Jan 2026, BWCS Staff)
Gabon is set to become the latest nation to launch WiFi services on its trains. Perched on the Atlantic coast, the small African country boasts one of the highest GDP-per-capita figures on the continent and is home to the 420-mile Trans-Gabon line. This week the country’s Ministry of Digital Economy, Digitalization, and Innovation said that the official launch of WiFi services on passenger trains took place on December 23rd, 2025. Throughout the early part of the project, passengers will only be able to access their WhatsApp applications. However, the range of services will be......

GWR Set to Trial F1 Tech for Train WiFi

(17 Nov 2025, BWCS Staff)
UK train operator GWR is to test a new system of delivering faster and more reliable WiFi to its trains. The technology, which was first developed to improve radio comms with Formula One cars by Motion Applied, uses mobile phone signals backed by LEO Satellite delivery to create stronger connections. The 60-day trial, which is now underway, has been organised in partnership with the transport body for Cornwall, Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay, Peninsula Transport. It is understood the train will run across different lines on the GWR network. The UK certainly appears to have some......

Saudi Railway Company Signs 5G Trackside Deal

(28 Oct 2025, BWCS Staff)
Swedish mobile equipment supplier Ericsson is to team up with the Saudi Railway Company to deploy 5G tech across the Saudi rail network. In a statement both companies said they aim to “modernise operations, enhance reliability, and strengthen connectivity.” The initiative forms part of the Transport section of the much-heralded Saudi Vision 2030 project. The aim of the huge investments currently underway is to advance national infrastructure and position the Kingdom as a global innovation and logistics hub.   Under the terms of a joint Memorandum of Understanding,......

National Train Operator Sees WiFi Window of Opportunity

(20 Oct 2025, BWCS Staff)
Finnish state-owned train company, VR, is making a renewed effort to improve its on-board WiFi service. This year, the company says it will alter all windows in a transparent bid to help boost reception from cell-towers inside the carriages. The move follows the 5 million euros VR spent on train WiFi last year. However, according to Finnish broadcaster, YLE, this investment had little impact on passenger WiFi connections   VR’s latest plan is to laser-engrave windows as a means of improving access to mobile base stations as trains roll past them. The company argues that......

WiFi Provided by UK Train Companies Ranked by Passengers

(16 Oct 2025, BWCS Staff)
Reports comparing on-train WiFi services are like buses, it appears, you wait ages for one and then two come along at once. The latest data-set to emerge, this week, comes from Uswitch broadband and is restricted to how travellers feel about the WiFi offered by the numerous train companies operating in the UK. The survey kicks off with the less than surprising assertion that 86% of British commuters spend at least some of their train-time working (or pretending to work). However, only a third admit to doing so “very regularly”. The good news, for some, is that Uswitch......

WiFi on Trains Speed-Tested – Compare Each Country in Europe

(14 Oct 2025, BWCS Staff)
It’s as if it was announced just in time for this year’s Traincomms Conference (it wasn’t), the differing standards of on-board WiFi connectivity across Europe have been measured by Ookla Speedtest®. And some countries have got more to crow about than others… Ookla, which is a division of US-based online publishing giant Ziff- Davis, used crowd-sourced feedback on data speeds from passengers actually travelling on trains as they rumbled across the continent and the British Isles. According to the online research company’s figures, Sweden sits atop the league......

New Train Software Platform Wins Rail Innovation Award

(04 Sep 2025, BWCS Staff)
At BWCS we love a good success story, especially when it involves alliances that were fostered, if not formed, at Traincomms. For that reason, we are delighted to report that TrainManager, a cloud-based software platform created by Xentrans, has won an Innovative Rail Solutions Award for its implementation on board Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) trains in the US. The system, which was built to modernise the planning, management, and maintenance of Northern California’s intercity rail fleet has now replaced outdated shared-spreadsheets and other analog methods with a......

New Acela Trains Offer Much-Improved WiFi

(01 Sep 2025, BWCS Staff)
US train operator Amtrak has launched the much-anticipated new Acela fleet on its North-Eastern routes. Five trains are set to run immediately, with the remainder to be added over the next two years. Capable of speeds of up to 160mph the new trains also boast much-improved WiFi and a USB port at every seat. In addition, they have better lighting, bigger windows and more comfortable seats. Each new train can accommodate 25% riders than their predecessors. The improved connectivity follows a pair of RFIs issued by Amtrak last year. The company called for two Requests for information......

Eutelsat Comes out Punching in French Sky Fight for Supremacy

(01 Aug 2025, BWCS Staff)
European-based Eutelsat is fighting back in the battle to win the contract to supply broadband to SNCF trains. The French owned satellite service provider has been outlining its strengths to industry magazine - Payload Space. Eutelsat OneWeb is one of two most likely competitors for the recently announced tender to provide satellite-delivered broadband to French national train operator SNCF. While the bids have yet to be received, Eutelsat is banging the drum for its local connections. For its part, the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX - Starlink has been keeping its powder dry and did not comment......

SNCF Latest to Trial Satellite to Train Services

(07 Jul 2025, BWCS Staff)
France is set to be the latest country to trial satellite-delivered broadband to trains. Government-owned SNCF will launch a tender aimed at adding satellite internet to its trains. The move follows several other nations trialling satellite services in a bid to eliminate “not-spots” along the tracks and provide more consistent onboard connectivity. SNCF confirmed to Reuters press service at the weekend that it plans to employ an "innovative approach to strengthen connectivity and resilience" by combining terrestrial networks with low Earth-orbit satellite solutions. The main......

How Passengers Are Using On-Train Wi-Fi in 2025: Insights Revealed for World WiFi Day

(03 Jul 2025, BWCS Staff)
Google tops the on-train Wi-Fi bandwidth league table, with Instagram, Facebook, Netflix and TikTok close behind, confirming rail passengers now expect a home broadband experience while on the move. Insights are drawn from the anonymised Wi-Fi traffic of more than two million daily users travelling on thousands of trains in service across Europe and North America over the last 12 months. Rail operators are trialling low-Earth-orbit satellite technology – such as SpaceX’s Starlink – to boost onboard Wi-Fi speeds and reliability for passengers and day-to-day train......

More Details on UK Plan to Eliminate Train Not-Spots

(02 Jul 2025, BWCS Staff)
More information has been revealed on the UK government’s plan to eliminate so-called “not-spots” along some of the country’s main train lines. The much-vaunted Project Reach will, the government stresses, save the taxpayer some £300 million by using a mix of public and private sector investment. The new scheme, which will start next year and should be complete by 2028, will see Neos Networks lay an initial 1,000km of ultra-fast fibre optic cable up the East Coast Main Line and along parts of the West Coast Main Line. In the future this may, or may not, be......

UK to Eliminate Track-to-Train Not-Spots in Huge Multi-Million Pound National Deal

(26 Jun 2025, BWCS Staff)
The UK government has signed a major new deal designed to boost mobile coverage and remove WiFi not-spots on key national rail routes. The contract, named Project Reach was signed today (26th June) and will see Network Rail work with telecoms companies, Neos Networks and Freshwave to eliminate mobile signal blackspots on main lines running between London, Manchester, Newcastle and Cardiff. It also builds on the recent £41 million contribution confirmed in the government’s National Infrastructure Strategy designed to introduce low-earth-orbit satellite connectivity on all......

Pakistan Outlines Plans for WiFi on its Trains

(11 Jun 2025, BWCS Staff)
The much-vaunted, long-awaited addition of WiFi to trains in Pakistan appears to be finally moving ahead. National Minister for Railways, Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, told a press conference yesterday that an initial 40 trains will be kitted out for the service this year, with the rest of the fleet to be upgraded by 2027. The full programme for this year’s Traincomms Conference is available here: https://www.traincomms.com/#content2b According to Abbasi, “Uplifting Pakistan Railways has become indispensable for development of the country.” He went on to indicate that 155......

SWR Launches Superfast Broadband on Some Trains…

(20 May 2025, BWCS Staff)
One of the UK's busiest train companies South Western Railway (SWR) has finally gone live with Rail-5G connectivity along a 70km stretch of line between the London suburb of Earlsfield and Basingstoke. The new system, developed by First Group subsidiary Evo-Rail, can, according to SWR, offer connections at "up to 20 times faster than the current available average." The full programme for this year’s Traincomms Conference is available here: https://www.traincomms.com/#content2b The operator reports that its passengers on the Earlsfield to Basingstoke line can now stream content,......

ScotRail Launches Satellite-Delivered On-Train WiFi Service

(12 May 2025, BWCS Staff)
UK train operator ScotRail has today announced the start of a trial involving satellite-delivered broadband to six trains trundling across the most northerly parts of its network. The specially-upgraded trains will use technology developed in conjunction with Bathgate-based Clarus Networks to deliver faster, more reliable, passenger WiFi services via a connection to Starlink Low Earth Orbit satellites. In what the operator is calling a UK-first, the six Class 158 trains will enable passengers to remain connected on routes from Inverness to Wick, Thurso, Kyle of Lochalsh, and Aberdeen. The......

Better Mobile Cover Goes Live from O2 UK on East Coast Mainline

(08 May 2025, BWCS Staff)
UK mobile network operator O2 (Virgin Media) has announced a “major boost” to cellular connectivity on the mainline from London heading north. East Coast main line train operator, LNER, together with Network Rail and tech company Aureos, have completed the roll out of a new custom-built Distributed Antenna System (DAS). The system covers the notorious “not-spots” in the two major tunnels at the entrance to Kings Cross terminus – “Gasworks” and “Copenhagen”. The new underground network will help offer a “more reliable and......

Brightline to Utilise Racing-Inspired Technology to Improve On-Train WiFi

(06 May 2025, BWCS Staff)
Brightline Florida has signed McLaren Applied to help improve the reliability of the US train operator’s passenger WiFi service. The agreement will see the UK-based company supply its Fleet Connect software, which it developed in the fiercely competitive world of Formula One racing. McLaren Applied says its 5G Edge Active Antenna and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connections will enable travellers to maintain consistent high-speed internet connections, even in rural areas or during fast movement. Brightline was the first train company to utilise LEO satellite connectivity at......