Free WiFi On Trains Already Exists! In Britain.

February 11, 2010 at 9:40 AM | by JetSetCD | Comments (2)

We're only one month away from the start of free WiFi on Amtrak Acela trains in the US, but like usual, the European train system has it beat.

Last month, we sought to take a train down to London from Edinburgh, and desperately wanted a train that offered a WiFi signal, so naturally we turned to book with Virgin Trains, which touts free WiFi in first class and paid access in coach. However, it turns out that their website will book any available train running the route and not just Virgin ones, so we were dismayed to find ourselves stuck with a ticket on an East Coast train, even though a Brit friend assured us that it would be nicer than if we had gone Virgin.

So was it nicer? Find out after the jump!

And you know what? It was! Not only was the train spacious, comfortable and speedy at 125 mph, but our reserved seats gave us one of the coach car's few tables. Next to all chairs is a working outlet, and we were thrilled to find a free WiFi network that worked well on both our laptop and iPhones. All that needs to be done for access is signing up with your email address on the start page and accepting the terms and conditions, like any other network.

This was on a Saturday, so sadly all we could do to flaunt our free connection was send iPhone videos of the scenery (the coastline! sheep in meadows with a rainbow!) to our Facebook and Twitter a few observations and snapshots. Nonetheless, we got tons of work done during the four-hour journey, and being thus immersed in the internet, the trip felt like a quarter of the time it actually was.

So what's the point of sharing this with you? Well, if you're serious about WiFi access like we are, then East Coast would be a train company to make note of if you're ever traveling in Scotland and England, similar to how we look to Virgin America or Airtran flights first for their fleetwide WiFi in the skies. Knowledge is power!

[Photos: Jaunted]

Comments (2)

Return to » Free WiFi On Trains Already Exists! In Britain.

Via Rail offers WiFi as well. In January it was free in Economy and always free in First Class. It was slow as molasses in some parts, but nice to have, all the same.

It has been free on about half the trains in Denmark for a couple of years, those run by Arriva, but the access is not always super. On DSB trains, there is only Wifi between Copenhagen and �rhus, but it is free in the 1. class - and way overpriced on 2nd class, but the access is decent. It even works in the tunnel between Zeeland and Funen.

Jaunted

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