Eurostar joins on-board Wi-Fi bandwagon

Train operator Eurostar is to begin trialling wireless internet access on its cross-channel services later this year, joining operators such as GNER and Virgin Trains who are already experimenting with the service.

Eurostar is to begin refurbishing its 10-year-old fleet of 27 trains from the middle of the year, and this will include installing facilities for Wi-Fi-enabled laptops. Train operators are looking to Wi-Fi services as one way of clawing back customers from no-frills short-haul airlines.

Details have not yet been ironed out, but the system is likely to be similar to the one GNER is trialling, connecting to the internet via a satellite link, Eurostar said. The downside is that service will be interrupted while trains are under the Channel.

The cross-channel operator recently inaugurated a high-speed track in the UK part of its journey that cuts 20 minutes off travel times and promises better punctuality. As a result of the faster link, passenger numbers have increased to record levels, Eurostar said.

GNER has moved the furthest down the track toward enabling its trains with wireless LAN connections, in December launching a three-month trial on one train running from London Kings Cross to Scotland.

Customers wanting to try out GNER's wireless broadband need to have a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop and must buy a first class ticket for the coach equipped with the wireless data communication system built by Icomera. There is no extra charge for the connection.

GNER says customers experience speeds about the equivalent to an ADSL connection, though connections speed varies based on obstacles on the railway track and coverage offered by different wireless networks along the route.

Satellite receivers are fitted to the train but connection speed will vary during the journey. GNER said that, for example, when the train passes through a tunnel, four to six cellular phone links are used in parallel to maintain the internet connection, so even if the speed decreases temporarily, the connection will entirely not drop.

If the trial is successful GNER will fit the equipment to 10 high-speed diesel trains and then 30 electric trains.

Stations along Virgin Trains' West Coast route are being Wi-Fi-enabled and Virgin said the next phase will include offering full on-board Wi-Fi.

Matthew Broersma writes for ZDNet UK, silicon.com's Andy McCue contributed to this report.