With just over 80 days to go until the much anticipated launch of the Chiltern Railways Mainline service on 5 September 2011, Chiltern Railways have announced that from launch Mainline services will offer free WiFi for all customers.
The provision of free WiFi is a first for a franchised rail operator and will be warmly welcomed in the current economic climate when many businesses are feeling the pinch.
Between now and September, all trains used on the Mainline service will be fitted with state of the art wifi equipment from leading Swedish supplier Icomera AB.
At the heart of each on-train system is the Icomera X6 router, which uses patented SureWANTM software to seamlessly combine multiple mobile networks along the Chiltern Mainline route to deliver both superior coverage and bandwidth for users onboard.
The system is also ready to take advantage of super fast next-generation LTE mobile networks when these start going live two years from now.
Unlike many hotels, restaurants and other train companies, Chiltern Railways will not be levying any charges for use of onboard wi-fi.
This announcement – combined with significantly reduced journey times along the Chiltern route – makes Mainline the smart choice for anyone travelling on business between Britain’s first and second cities.
Thomas Ableman, Director of Chiltern Railways said:
“We believe that the business community in Birmingham deserve good value, fast travel into London and we want to make travelling with us the only option that makes business sense.
In this digital age, it is crucial to remain connected to the internet for work or pleasure and critically we believe that you shouldn’t have to pay a supplement for it.
We’re delighted to announce this first for a franchised rail operator which means that all our Mainline customers will be able to make more of their time onboard using our free wi-fi to read emails, work, browse the internet or even do the weekly shop.”
When the Chiltern Railways Mainline service launches on September 5th, services will run every thirty minutes, with the fastest trains reaching the capital in just 90 minutes.
