Hugo Swire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugo Swire on 2016-10-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with (a) Great Western Railway and (b) South West Trains on the provision of wifi services on those trains.

Paul Maynard

The Secretary of State has not met with Great Western Railway or South West Trains on the provision of Wi-Fi services.

On all Department for Transport-controlled rail franchises, in England and Wales, free Wi-Fi is being introduced. All train operators bidding for new franchises and direct award agreements will have to present a phased implementation plan for free Wi-Fi.

As of July 2016, 25% of passenger journeys operating within the DfT controlled franchises have Wi-Fi available. We forecast 90% of passenger journeys will benefit from free Wi-Fi by the end of 2018.