I just wouldn't risk having an important video call
Across Britain's rail network, a quiet daily frustration plays out in carriages where passengers open laptops and find the digital world just out of reach. The UK ranks 16th of 18 European nations in onboard train wi-fi speed, averaging just 1.09 Mbps against Sweden's 64.58 — a gap that speaks not merely to infrastructure, but to the unrealised promise of productive, connected travel. Now the government has committed £57 million to replace the ground-based mobile dependency with low-earth orbit satellite technology across 1,400 trains, aiming to lift coverage from roughly half the network to nine in ten journeys within five years.
- Britain's train wi-fi is so slow — 1.09 Mbps on average — that passengers routinely abandon video calls, watch documents fail to save, and warn colleagues their audio lines may simply vanish mid-sentence.
- The root problem is structural: onboard wi-fi piggybacks on the same 4G and 5G signals passengers already can't rely on, meaning tunnels, rural stretches, and network congestion all punch through to the carriage.
- Commuters have built entire workarounds around the failure — hotspotting phones, scheduling no important calls, accepting that a two-hour journey might yield only an hour of real work.
- The government's £57 million satellite plan would cut the network's dependency on ground infrastructure entirely, targeting a five-to-tenfold speed increase and lifting wi-fi availability from 50–60% to at least 90%.
- A formal announcement is expected in summer 2026, with the upgrade rolling out across 1,400 mainline trains — a shift that could redefine what it means to commute by rail in Britain.
On the 09:00 from London to Norwich, the wi-fi holds. Emails send, calls connect, the journey feels productive. But ask Rebecca Kendall, who commutes six times a month as head of operations for a charity, and a different picture emerges. On a typical two-hour journey, she estimates she completes only half the work she'd manage at her desk. Video calls are off the table entirely. "I would never plan one," she says.
Rebecca's experience is the rule, not the exception. In 2025, network testing company Ookla ranked Britain's onboard train wi-fi 16th out of 18 major European and Asian countries, with an average speed of just 1.09 Mbps. Sweden delivers 64.58 Mbps. Switzerland manages 29.79 Mbps. UK households, by comparison, enjoy average maximum download speeds of 285 Mbps. The gap is not subtle.
The cause is structural. Train wi-fi currently runs through the same 4G and 5G mobile networks passengers use on their phones. Where there is no signal outside the train, there is no signal inside either — a ceiling no onboard equipment can raise. The return journey from Norwich that same afternoon makes this plain: a laptop connection that drops repeatedly, photos that won't upload, a service that Greater Anglia acknowledges varies by location and user load.
Passengers have adapted in their own ways. Bhaav, 32, hotspots his phone to his laptop and still finds work calls "almost impossible." Caitlin Roberts, 27, has struggled to load her train ticket with enough signal to complete the purchase. Nelson Ntumba, 29, sometimes welcomes the forced disconnection. Maya Lane, 23, fills the time crocheting — but notes that operators shouldn't advertise wi-fi as a benefit if it cannot be relied upon.
The government's answer is a £57 million investment to move 1,400 mainline trains onto low-earth orbit satellite connectivity over the next five years. The target: lift wi-fi availability from 50–60% to at least 90%, and improve speeds by a factor of five to ten. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to formally announce the plans this summer — a moment that could, at last, make the promise of working on a British train something closer to reality.
On the 09:00 service from London to Norwich, something remarkable happens: the wi-fi actually works. I can send emails, message colleagues, take clear audio calls. The connection holds steady for the full journey. But step into the same carriage and ask Rebecca Kendall about her experience, and a different story emerges.
Rebecca, 36, commutes by train about six times a month in her role as head of operations for a charity. She spends those journeys trying to work—sending emails, instant messages, running software. The connection, she tells me, is unpredictable. Sometimes it vanishes entirely. On a typical two-hour commute, she estimates she can complete only about half the tasks she'd manage at her desk. Video calls are out of the question. She warns colleagues before audio calls that the line might drop. "I just wouldn't risk having an important video call," she says. "I would never plan one."
This frustration is not unique to Rebecca. Across the UK rail network, passengers have grown accustomed to the temperamental nature of onboard connectivity. Sometimes there is no signal at all. Sometimes it flickers throughout the journey. Mobile data fares no better, especially when trains pass through tunnels. The problem is systemic and well-documented. In 2025, network testing company Ookla ranked Britain's onboard wi-fi speed 16th out of 18 major European and Asian countries. The average speed in the UK is 1.09 megabits per second. Sweden, by comparison, delivers 64.58 Mbps. Switzerland manages 29.79 Mbps. At home, UK households and small businesses enjoy average maximum download speeds of 285 Mbps, according to Ofcom. The gap is stark.
The reason for this disparity lies in the infrastructure itself. Current train wi-fi depends on the same 4G and 5G mobile networks that passengers use on their phones. When there is no signal outside the train, neither the wi-fi nor mobile service works. This creates a ceiling on performance that no amount of onboard equipment can overcome. The Department for Transport acknowledges this constraint plainly: "If there is no signal outside the train, neither the wi-fi nor direct services will work."
But change is coming. This week, the government announced plans to overhaul train connectivity over the next five years. The strategy is to move away from ground-based mobile networks entirely. Instead, 1,400 trains on mainline nationalised services will connect to low-earth orbit satellites. The Department for Transport plans to spend £57 million on the project. The ambition is substantial: increase wi-fi availability from the current 50 to 60 percent to at least 90 percent, and boost speeds by a factor of five to ten times. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to formally announce the plans this summer.
On the return journey that same day—the 16:30 from Norwich back to London Liverpool Street—the reality of the current system becomes apparent. My laptop connection is sluggish and drops repeatedly. My phone, however, connects without trouble. I can even stream YouTube videos. Other passengers report their laptops work fine. I attempt to upload photos for this article to a document-sharing site. The connection fails. Greater Anglia, which operates the service, relies on 3G and 4G signals. The company notes that connection quality varies depending on location along the route and how many people are using the wi-fi simultaneously. Like many operators, Greater Anglia also throttles access to video and music-streaming sites. The company says it is monitoring performance and working with suppliers to improve connectivity.
For some passengers, the unreliability is merely an inconvenience. Maya Lane, 23, spends her train journeys reading or crocheting. She and her friend Safia Nazir, 26, are travelling to a modelling shoot. But even Maya acknowledges the frustration when she needs to work. "Sometimes people pick trains so they have the option of working while they're travelling," she says. She points out that operators shouldn't advertise wi-fi as a benefit if it is unreliable. Others have developed workarounds. Bhaav, 32, often hotspots his phone data to his laptop. He has attempted to take work calls on trains but finds it "almost impossible." Documents fail to save. Messages don't send. "Given the train prices, it's pretty frustrating," he says.
Caitlin Roberts, 27, a teacher, often wants to work during her journeys to Wigan and Doncaster, but the connection usually isn't adequate. She has even struggled to load her train ticket with enough signal to complete the purchase. Nelson Ntumba, 29, experiences similar issues accessing train wi-fi, though he sometimes welcomes the forced digital detox. The satellite upgrade, when it arrives, promises to change this calculus entirely. For the first time, UK rail passengers may be able to work reliably during their commutes, freed from the constraints of ground-based mobile networks and the dead zones that have defined train travel for years.
Citações Notáveis
I just wouldn't risk having an important video call. I would never plan one.— Rebecca Kendall, charity operations head
Sometimes people pick trains so they have the option of working while they're travelling. Operators shouldn't advertise wi-fi as a benefit if it is unreliable.— Maya Lane, passenger
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does train wi-fi fail so consistently when home broadband is so much faster?
The train is borrowing the same 4G and 5G signals that phones use. When there's no signal outside the train, there's nothing to borrow. It's a fundamental constraint of the system—no amount of better equipment on the train itself can fix it.
So the satellite plan is really about escaping that dependence?
Exactly. Low-earth orbit satellites don't care about ground coverage gaps or tunnels. The train can connect directly to space instead of waiting for a mobile mast to appear.
Five to ten times faster sounds ambitious. Is that realistic?
The comparison is to 1.09 Mbps. Even modest satellite speeds would be a dramatic improvement. Sweden's trains already run at 64 Mbps. The UK is starting from such a low baseline that the gains should be substantial.
Why has this taken so long to fix?
Train wi-fi was never a priority because it wasn't essential. But work patterns have changed. People expect to be productive anywhere. The government is finally responding to that shift.
What happens to the operators who built their current systems?
Greater Anglia and others will need to upgrade. The Department for Transport is funding the satellite infrastructure, but operators will need to integrate it into their trains. It's a coordinated transition, not a sudden replacement.
For someone like Rebecca who commutes six times a month, what changes?
She stops warning colleagues that calls might drop. She stops rationing her work tasks. A two-hour commute becomes genuinely productive time instead of a gamble.