Enhanced WiFi trial on GWR

[pwharley]

Lord Peter Hendy today (17/11/25) launched a two month trial of enhanced wifi on a GWR IET. It switches between 5G mobile and satellite connections, to provide the fastest speed possible. (There's no mention of the connection problems posed by tunnels!)

He said the DfT would be awaiting the results, but its advocates claim the new system could be installed relatively quickly and cheaply without requiring extra infrastructure on the railway.

During a test run, journalists found that download speeds reached 120Mbs/sec.

The IET concerned is 802101.

GWR train fitted with F1 tech for two-month superfast wifi trial

Tryout of system, which switches between signals from 5G masts to low Earth-orbit satellites, could lead to wider rollout

www.theguardian.com

 

[Pete_uk]

Would the satellites be Starlink?

 

[D365]

Would the satellites be Starlink?

Yes, with equipment supplied by Motion Applied (formerly McLaren Applied Technology).

Applicable quotes from the linked article below:

Train wifi in the UK, long a source of frustration for passengers, is about to get radically faster – for a lucky few at least.

A two-month trial has begun on one Great Western Railway (GWR) train, fitted with technology from Formula One that switches between the signals from 5G masts to low Earth-orbit satellites to provide almost seamless, superfast wifi.

For now, only one of GWR’s 57 intercity express trains will have a connection good enough to deliver a Netflix series to the seat. However, a successful trial and the promise of lower costs could spell a wider rollout to the rest of the mainline railway by 2030.

Nick Fry, the chair of Motion Applied, a tech company spun out of the McLaren racing division, said the pilot would demonstrate the technology was ready. The UK-made tech, pioneered in F1, combines “several pizza-sized boxes” and antennae attached to the roof of the train, allowing it to connect and switch between the best available network, from wifi to 5G to satellite, he said. “It’s very fast with fewer dropouts.”

The system is also being rolled out on Deutsche Bahn services in Germany and on Brightline and Amtrak trains in the US.

 

[Deepgreen]

Would the satellites be Starlink?

Unfortunately, yes.

 

[Invincible]

The article does not say Starlink, more likely Eutelsat Oneweb which is part owned by the Government and has been tested on the Swanage railway?
Would expect the Government would press GWR to use it's own partly owned satellites rather than Starlink?

We've been busy in the South West of England, where our partners at Excelerate Technology Group have installed a Kymeta Corporation Hawk u8 user terminal onto the Swanage Railway Co. Ltd. - becoming… | Eutelsat OneWeb

We've been busy in the South West of England, where our partners at Excelerate Technology Group have installed a Kymeta Corporation Hawk u8 user terminal onto the Swanage Railway Co. Ltd. - becoming the first heritage steam railway in the UK to offer a fully on-train mobile WiFi connection In...

www.linkedin.com

"We've been busy in the South West of England, where our partners at Excelerate Technology Group have installed a Kymeta Corporation Hawk u8 user terminal onto the Swanage Railway Co. Ltd. - becoming the first heritage steam railway in the UK to offer a fully on-train mobile WiFi connection In a project lead by Dorset Council UK and funded by government, the Kymeta UT has been installed onto the former British Railways carriage - dating back to the 1960s - with the internet provision running throughout the train, connecting passengers to our Eutelsat OneWeb LEO satellite constellation."
Guess 5G repeaters in tunnels?

 

[TheWalrus]

I am on 802101 now been on since Reading and just left Taunton, had no issues so far. Does seem a lot better, faster and more reliable.

 

[Invincible]

I am on 802101 now been on since Reading and just left Taunton, had no issues so far. Does seem a lot better, faster and more reliable.

That's good, does the satellite receiver look like a Kymeta UT roof top box as used in Swanage?

Kymeta Corp

Empowering mission-critical operations with resilient, multi-orbit connectivity solutions, Kymeta delivers seamless communications anytime and anywhere.

www.kymetacorp.com

Hope the 2 month trial goes well and more trains will get the satellite receivers (which could also send train telemetry data back to a control room).

The First group did roll out trackside 5G to SWR trains on board WiFi in the Isle of Wight and parts of the mainline though it's EVO-Rail subsidary. Although successful looks like the cost of many trackside masts meant it was not viable.
So hopefully the satellite receivers, with some limited 5G backup, will be viable?

 

[Invincible]

Found more about the satellite and 5G roof top box, built in UK, from the Motion Applied website used for the 2 month trial at GWR

https://www.motionapplied.com/documents/products/summaries/Motion%20Applied%20EDGE%20Rail%20-%20030%20096%20010%20002.pdf

Does look slightly different to the Kymeta UT roof top box, (built in US?), as used in Swanage and North Yorkshire Moors Railway

CGI, Eutelsat OneWeb and Icomera to pilot improved broadband communications for train travel through seamless hybrid satellite and terrestrial networks

We are running live trials to demonstrate how integrated low-earth orbit satellite and terrestrial communications networks can provide seamless, low latency broadband connectivity on Britain’s rail network.

www.cgi.com

 

[nilvaj395]

I do find it interesting that this trial is happening given it has only been a few years since the DfT was saying Wi-Fi was a low priority and should be removed to save money. Has this decision been reversed due to the different Government?