South Western Railway Trials Satellite-Based Wi-Fi Technology

South Western Railway (SWR) has begun a new trial of satellite-powered onboard Wi-Fi technology, utilising Starlink’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network to ensure connection across even the most remote portions of its network.

Run in partnership with Angel Trains and Clarus Networks; the trial is being tested on a Class 444 train running on routes between London Waterloo, Portsmouth Harbour and Weymouth – with the trial expected to provide a major boost through New Forest, an area known for signal blackspots.

Early testing results have seen a coverage rate of 97% thus far, with the trial delivering speeds up to 20 times faster than traditional mobile network connections powered by trackside antenna technology.

With the commencement of the trial; SWR has reinforced its commitment to transforming the onboard Wi-Fi experience for its customers, and is now one of the first UK operators to offer three options for the provision of on-board connectivity.

Earlier this year, SWR introduced new superfast Rail-5G Wi-Fi onboard services between Earlsfield and Basingstoke.

Passengers travelling onboard the services can now browse and stream at speeds comparable to a home network.

SWR has also improved reliability onboard with the introduction of multi-SIM technology, which allows trains to automatically switch between UK mobile operators in order to maintain the strongest possible connection.

Cabling and onboard equipment on the Class 444 and 450 fleet have recently seen upgrades from Siemens, ensuring faster and more stable connectivity, whilst the new connectivity upgrades have been enabled by Icomera.

Since introducing the new technology, SWR has stated that its Wi-Fi usage has increased by 58%, with 76% of customers now reporting a positive experience as per a customer experience survey conducted by RCXS.

Peter Williams, South Western Railway’s Customer and Commercial Director said:

We know how important reliable Wi-Fi is to our customers – it supports productivity, keeps people connected and entertained and makes rail an even more attractive and sustainable way to travel.

By bringing satellite technology to our trains, we’re covering some of the hardest-to-reach parts of the network and showing that seamless connectivity is possible wherever you travel. This is another big step towards improving the onboard experience for our customers and we are excited to see how it can benefit more routes across our network in future.

Finally, new data revealed by SWR has shown how customers have thus far been enjoying the new, faster Wi-Fi since May 2024. Usage habits include:

• 100,000 songs streamed every day – an increase of 140%
• 256 hours of YouTube video streamed per day
• 100 hours of TikTok content streamed per day – an increase of 300%
• 289 hours worth of virtual meetings and 407,000 emails sent per day