Published on: Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Last updated: Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Greater Anglia has completed a £4.8 million project to install free WiFi on all Greater Anglia trains between East Anglia and London Liverpool Street.
The investment means that up to 907,000 passengers a month can now connect their laptops and other devices to Greater Anglia’s free on-board WiFi on the majority of its trains, offering commuters more productive travel time and reducing personal data charges.
The project has taken over a year and involved a bespoke installation on four different types of train using over 18km of Ethernet cable.
Greater Anglia’s wi-fi suppliers have been fitting the new system at Ilford Depot to one train every day since March 2018 - 840 separate carriages in total. The installation is now complete with just a few minor improvements being made to some units.
Each train requires its own WiFi access points, network switch, roof antennae and power supply housed in a secure cupboard, with bespoke designs required for each different type of train.
Project Manager, Katharine Rosa, said, “Fitting WiFi to trains is a complex task, so it’s great news that passengers can now be more productive while they are travelling and also make savings on their data packages by using the free WiFi on board.
“While we await the roll-out of our brand new fleet of trains, which will also have free WiFi, we are committed to improving our current fleet to improve passengers’ journeys now.”
The on-board wi-fi can be connected to by selecting Greater Anglia Wi-Fi in a device’s wi-fi settings, then opening a web browser to sign in.
WiFi capability is now available on all Intercity, Stansted Express and Class 317, 321 and 360 trains