No plans to introduce wi-fi internet on Southeastern trains (From News Shopper)

No plans to introduce Wi-Fi internet on Southeastern trains

8:00am Wednesday 13th June 2012 in Traffic & Travel By Alan Woods

COMMUTERS on Southeastern trains are not on track for wireless internet anytime soon.

With free wi-fi rolled out at a handful of London Underground stations last week and several train operators already offering the service, News Shopper asked Southeastern if it had any plans to follow suit.

A Southeastern spokeswoman said the firm had "looked at the possibility in the past" but that a telecoms provider had not yet put forward a suitable business case.

She added: "I see commuters every day using a dongle in their laptop so there are ways around it.

"The train companies offering it tend to be those covering longer distances and the majority of our customer’s journeys, especially in south-east London, are less than half an hour."

Elisse Ahmet, 21, who commutes from Barnehurst station daily, said: “I think it would be a really useful addition to the trains in and out of London as it would allow me to start work before I even reach the city – especially if it was a free service.

“The phone signal isn’t always great between Bexley and London Bridge, which means the internet on my phone doesn’t always work.

“People would be able to use their laptops, iPads and phones without any interruption, which can only be a good thing.”

However, 59-year-old Forest Hill commuter Michael Abrahams said: "For long distance train journey’s it makes perfect sense to have wi-fi but for more local services you can probably manage without it for a few minutes.

"I think it’s useful to have it at stations because the time when people need to use it is then.

"I used my 3G connection to look at train times when I was waiting in the week.

"Quite a lot of people on trains have iPads nowadays and I guess the question is whether people want to read a newspaper or watch live television during their journeys."

Transport for London rolled out Virgin Media wi-fi at King’s Cross and Euston last week. It says the service will be available at 120 London Underground stations by the end of the year.