One of the worst ideas of the previous transport secretary, the egregious Mark Harper who seemed to care less about the railways than any of his predecessors, was to scrap wifi provision for rail passengers. They don’t need it, was the argument, as people could always get connected through the mobile signal and cutting it would save money. Had the man ever tried to use his phone on a train?
Fortunately, I got wind of the idea and leaked through this column and my podcast, Calling All Stations, which got the story in several national newspapers. Harper and his rail minister, Huw Merriman, tried to argue that it would save a lot of money and that passengers did not use the service. However, it soon emerged that the equipment would still be needed to ensure connections for the staff and enable card payments in buffets, which meant savings would be minimal. Not surprisingly the plan was quietly dropped.
That, of course, did not solve the problem with which all us rail travellers are familiar. Not to put too fine a point on it, internet connection and mobile reception on trains is crap. It is patchy, inconsistent and at best good for email and the odd Google search with at best at speed of one megabyte/sec. There is no possibility of having an uninterrupted Teams or Zoom conversation and forget about downloading a video or film. Even looking at a video clip on Twitter (sorry Elon) or TikTok is difficult. Part of the reason for the slow speeds of internet access on trains is that the train companies have to pay for the amount of data. The connection is through a series of Sim cards carried in the equipment in the roof of the train and even if there is sufficient bandwidth the train companies do not want to incur the cost of excessive amounts of data. So they deliberately prevent high levels of downloads.
The fact that we have at least this limited capacity is, oddly, down to David Cameron. As Prime Minister, he was keen to ensure that there was connectivity on all trains and facilitated this by allowing Network Rail to use the money it should have paid in fines for poor performance to a special fund for installing wifi technology on trains and externally. However, since this is 2G technology and we are now on 5G, the system is urgently in need of upgrading, especially as demand by travellers and, indeed, by rail companies for their own purposes, is rising exponentially. Trains have already become computers on wheels and there is no stopping that process.
The creation of Great British Railways and the integration of infrastructure with provides the perfect opportunity to improve the provision of on board wifi. Guaranteeing a high standard of connection on trains would undoubtedly attract passengers on to the railways. Indeed, the provision of high connectivity should be viewed as a basic part of service provision, as much as toilets and buffers on longer journeys.
This requires considerable coordination between several government departments and other organisations, and ministers should immediately start working with GBR to ensure this improvement comes about. However, it is an immensely complicated issue with very little clarity about how to achieve the aim, at a reasonable cost, of ensuring every rail passenger has good internet access. First, there is choosing the technology. This is more complicated than simply upgrading existing technology. According to Peter Kingsland, the senior vice president of Icomera, a major supplier of wifi equipment on trains: ‘A combination of both on train wifi and signals “hrough the window” will always be required to ensure continuous availability. it’s never going to be the case of opting for a single technology solution, but rather about leveraging the benefits of different solutions in different
geographical environments and combining all available networks to deliver optimum connectivity.’ That requires coordination of all the stakeholders across both the rail and communication industries, as well as government agencies.
Cooperation is essential so that the different networks all supply connectivity together rather than in competition. In addition to improving the masts using the existing technology– though who pays is another thorny question – there is the growing potential of a new technology whereby signals are transmitted from a network of satellites could be a game changer. But even this is not a complete solution as it does not work particularly well in busy urban areas which have high buildings blocking off the direct link with satellites. Moreover, the biggest player in the provision of the satellite technology is Elon Musk, who is quickly becoming a pariah who few other players would want to rely on.
Then there is the issue of who pays for the investment, reckoned to be at least £200m to provide a universal good signal. The best solution would be if better connectivity were an add on to other technological developments, such as the replacement of the GSMR system of cab to shore communication, or the upgrading of the cables feeding the signalling system across the network. Then improved wifi could just be part of a much larger investment scheme required but this perfect solution will be hard to bring about given the number of players involved.
However, doing nothing is not an option. Kingsland points out that wifi usage by passengers in European trains is higher than in the UK: ‘In the UK, 20-30 per cent of passengers currently use the onboard Wi-Fi service, compared with 40-50 per cent in other European countries’. One reason is that the Cameron-era technology has not been updated but it is also because those other railways have ensured that there is a good signal in rural areas, meaning there are no black spots.
This needs a government led solution but hopefully with a contribution from private capital. Improving internet access will not only bring more people onto trains, but also make them more accessible by allowing people to use, say, apps that help disabled people. Therefore it could be seen as helping to fulfil one of the Labour government’s much touted key missions about improving accessibility for all. It is a no-brainer given that good wifi has become as important to rail travellers as having well-functioning toilets.
In early 2023, Network Rail issued a press release on Project Reach which was a scheme to improve wifi on trains and it promised a contract would be signed later in the year. However, little, if any, progress has been made, not least because Harper wanted to do the precise opposite. Yet, the need is urgent as undoubtedly demand for wifi on trains is increasing rapidly and and it is part of rail’s offer to boost passenger numbers. Heads need to be banged together and quickly. One for the growing agenda of the new Labour ministerial team.
End of restoring Beeching
While on the subject of bad ideas from the previous administration, ‘restoring Beeching’ was precisely the sort of gimmicky performative government style that helped discredit the Tory brand. It was a scheme to hit the headlines for a day and then deliver precious little. Yes, some £500m was supposedly earmarked for the idea but little of that was ever delivered and what was spent ended up in the pockets of consultants. A lot of time and energy from local stakeholders, both community and official organisations, was wasted in drawing up plans, which never got beyond the drawing board. It was a con because while there was money for consultants to draw up scheme, none had been earmarked for actual construction.
The whole scheme was a bit of typical Borisonian flim-flam, to get a headline for a day or two. The sad thing is that it did serve the Conservative government’s purpose by attracting attention – and not much scrutiny – and I did numerous interviews on Restoring Beeching, trying to demonstrate that it was little more than a PR exercise.
Therefore, I do not mourn its demise. However, there are numerous reopening schemes that would bring great benefits to local communities. One has only to look at several successful reopenings in Scotland to see the potential benefits. However, drawing up the plans should be quick and be done with a light touch. Once consultants are introduced and schemes get bogged down in minutiae, then the impetus – and much money – is lost. Therefore there should be a reopening tsar, able to give a quick green light for schemes without involving the current tortuous process. What the Scottish schemes have shown is that the huge amount spent on passenger forecasts is often wasted as the eventual outcomes are nothing like those initially predicted. The process of approving schemes should be shortened and speeded up, even if there is a risk that some money might be wasted. After all, not a single penny spent on consultants ends up as part of a new railway line!