First Great Western On Board Wifi

[mralexn]

Is there any news or updates regarding First Great Western getting Wi-Fi on their HST sets?

It just seems a no brainer that they should have installed it years ago, considering the route they serve.

 

[welshpax]

When they announced that they were installing WIFI on the 180's I tweeted them to ask if there were any plans to install it on HST's. The reply I had was that it was not a franchise requirement so there were no plans to introduce it in the near future.

That may well change now the franchise has been extended.

 

[willc789]

I suspect with the old franchise drawing to an end it wasnt a commercially viable option to take on, althout now with a fresh exention to this hopefully there might be a bit of progress in expanding it further and onto the HST's but I do agree it is sorely missed and is something the FGW media team are regularly asked about.

Out of interest what other TOC's dont offer wifi? Are FGW the only long distance set up without it?

 

[Swirlz]

I suspect with the old franchise drawing to an end it wasnt a commercially viable option to take on, althout now with a fresh exention to this hopefully there might be a bit of progress in expanding it further and onto the HST's but I do agree it is sorely missed and is something the FGW media team are regularly asked about.

Out of interest what other TOC's dont offer wifi? Are FGW the only long distance set up without it?

Arriva Trains Wales, London Midland and Transpennine Express don't offer it on their long distance services.

East Midlands Trains doesn't have it for Liverpool-Norwich either.

The likes of Manchester-Cardiff and Liverpool-Leeds, Birmingham etc should really have better on board facilities.

I think in the whole of the North West of England and all of Wales, only Virgin services have wifi.

 

[Lrd]

SWT, SN and SET all don't have Wifi, although SWT are supposedly looking into installing it on the 444s.

 

[Goatboy]

I don't see the point in chargeable Wifi. I think the only credible options are free Wifi or no Wifi. Almost nobody is going to want to spend the quite ridiculous sums demanded for Wifi access onboard trains - so if the idea is to charge, it's probably better to save everyone the hassle and not bother fitting it.

It's free on the 180's, though.

 

[bnm]

That may well change now the franchise has been extended.

First Group has yet to reach agreement with the DfT for the 33 month extension from October 2013.

 

[Hyphen]

Out of interest what other TOC's dont offer wifi? Are FGW the only long distance set up without it?

CrossCountry services operated by Turbostars - Cardiff-Nottingham and Birmingham-Stansted.

 

[edwin_m]

Arriva Trains Wales, London Midland and I think in the whole of the North West of England and all of Wales, only Virgin services have wifi.

CrossCountry Voyagers also have it.

 

[tsr]

Chiltern 165s don't, as far as I know, meaning you could be unlucky on a Marylebone-Birmingham run.

 

[jb]

I don't see the point in chargeable Wifi. I think the only credible options are free Wifi or no Wifi...

... agreed, except I'd add the latter is a barely credible option, particularly on long-distance services, in 2013.

 

[adc82140]

But we're way ahead of our friends in France. None of the TGVs I've been on have any form of Wi-Fi.

 

[Retorus]

It is sorely lacking. I do love first class on FGW but it doesn't half miss having Wi-Fi.

 

[starrymarkb]

But we're way ahead of our friends in France. None of the TGVs I've been on have any form of Wi-Fi.

Only a handful of ICEs have it as well. Thalys does have it though

 

[Andrewlong]

I once used free wifi on a chiltern train from Stratford on Avon to Leamington spa and it worked well. However it was fairly empty which helps.

I object to paying for wifi on XC - in fact I object to travelling on XC voyagers in general. Oh for mark 2 with class 47 haulage