Better WiFi would send out the right signals to passengers

Christian Wolmar Transport writer & broadcaster

ONE of the worst ideas of the previous Transport Secretary Mark Harper was to scrap WiFi provision for rail passengers. They don’t need it, was the argument. People could always get connected through the mobile signal - and cutting it would save money. Had the man ever tried to use his phone on a train? Harper and his Rail Minister Huw Merriman tried to argue that it would save a lot of money and that passengers did not use the service. However, it soon emerged that the equipment would still be needed to ensure connections for the staff and to enable card payments in buffets, which meant savings would be minimal. Not surprisingly, the plan was quietly dropped. That, of course, did not solve the problem with which all of…

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