Research reveals that providing reliable high-speed internet connection onboard trains could be vital in encouraging passengers back to rail travel.
The research was commissioned by Evolutionary Rail Ltd and proves that passengers could be attracted back to rail travel if improvements in connectivity were undertaken.
Up to a third of young people in the age group 18 to 34 years of age confirmed that they would be more likely to travel by train if such improvements were made.
Evolutionary Rail Ltd or Evo Rail are a UK-based tech company which is part of First Group. The company has created a solution called rail-5G and could bring enormous improvements to internet connectivity on trains providing passengers with the access they need and could also benefit many onboard systems too.
The poll’s findings reveal that 65% of younger people view internet connection on trains as being essential, 29% also said they would be more likely to travel on the network if internet connectivity onboard trains were improved.
45% of respondents revealed that they would use the improved connection to surf the web and 42% said they would use it to respond to emails. It is clear that being able to use a train journey to work, check up on personal activities, or using the time to relax is an important factor in modern life.
The decline in passenger numbers due to the covid-19 pandemic is beginning to change as life gets back to normal and encouraging passengers back to travelling by rail is vital to build back to pre-pandemic levels, with making train travel more attractive to customers is an essential step in this process.
The William-Shapps Review reveals that the UK Government is in the process of restructuring Britain’s railways and enhanced internet connectivity is clearly something which passengers look for when choosing how to travel to their workplace.
Evo-rail’s rail-5G can provide the important improvements to connectivity on trains by giving passengers access to more than 1Gb per second of continuous throughput which is 50 times more than today’s average speeds. The impressive speeds will mean passengers will easily be able to surf the web, respond to emails and even securely use videoconferencing, stream live sports. download films and other media.
Evo-rail use mmWave technology and means that rail-5G can bring a cost-effective, high-speed Wi-Fi at a fraction of the price of using mobile data. Passengers will be able to enjoy unparalleled levels of connectivity, similar in speed to what they may get at home or at work.
Simon Holmes, Managing Director, Evo-Rail, said: “As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact it has had on our rail network, we must ensure the passenger is at the heart of the sector’s recovery. Rail-5G will boost customer experience by creating continuous connectivity. Improved, reliable internet access will allow passengers to enjoy a range of activities on their mobiles, laptops or tablets and create the flexibility for people to use their journey as part of the working day or as part of the leisure experience.”
“Our polling shows how important on-board Wi-Fi is to the passenger and demonstrates how a 50-fold step change in connectivity could significantly increase passenger numbers. Such a transformational change cannot be achieved by continuing to offer less bandwidth than customer need. As rail companies look to build a railway network fit for the modern passenger, the demands of our future workforce must be central to this.”
Anthony Smith, Chief Executive, Transport Focus, said: “More people will go back to trains if the cost and convenience are right. By providing good Wi-Fi passengers can also use the time they have productively.”
“We know from our research that only three in 10 passengers were satisfied with the internet
connection they usually receive on trains. Almost three quarters of train users also told us that
they think it is important that internet connectivity on trains is improved.”
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I’ve experienced such rubbish WiFi at stations and on trains that WiFi doesn’t seem to work most of the time and I had to rely on using 4G. Same with on buses that WiFi is so limited on buses. And yet more commuters are getting angry and annoyed that so much money has been wasted on WiFi installation at railway stations that doesn’t always seem to work.
Looks and sounds like Hell on Earth – vital to bring passengers back, more like driving them away to other transport. Tell me why more “Quiet Coaches” are not being introduced – they were so successful and fully booked up that Branson wanted them invalidated to protect his other businesses.