Britain's onboard train wi-fi is one of Europe's worst. This is how people manage

BBC

I’m sitting on the 09:00 from London to Norwich and something unusual is happening: my wi-fi connection on board is largely stable.

I can check my emails, message my team back in the office, and have clear audio calls.

In the same carriage, Rebecca Kendall has also been able to crack on with work on her two-hour commute – but she tells me this isn’t always the case. It’s a story familiar to many rail passengers – but things may be about to get better.

Rebecca, 36, takes the train about six times a month in her role as head of operations for a charity, and spends her journeys sending emails and instant messages as well as using software. The connection can be mixed, and sometimes the wi-fi “doesn’t work at all”, she says.

On a typical journey, Rebecca estimates she can manage only about half the tasks she would normally be able to get through at her desk. When she has audio calls, she forewarns her colleagues she might lose connection.

“I just wouldn’t risk having an important video call,” Rebecca says, citing how unstable the connection often is. “I would never plan one.”

Many rail passengers in the UK will be familiar with the frustrations of on-board wi-fi. Sometimes it’s impossible to get any connection, or the signal will be temperamental throughout the journey. Mobile data can be unreliable, too – especially when trains travel through tunnels.

A 2025 report by network testing company Ookla ranked the UK’s onboard wi-fi speed as 16th of 18 major European and Asian countries. Average speeds in the UK are 1.09 Megabits per second (Mbps), compared to 64.58 Mbps in Sweden and 29.79 Mbps in Switzerland, the report found.

Away from the tracks, the average maximum download speed for UK households and small businesses is a much swifter 285 Mbps, according to Ofcom.

This week, the government announced plans to boost train wi-fi speed and reliability over the next five years. Technology will be rolled out across 1,400 trains on mainline nationalised services allowing them to connect to low-earth satellites, instead of mobile networks.

The government says it hopes to improve the availability of wi-fi from the current 50-60% to at least 90%, as well as increasing the speed between five- and 10-fold.

The Department for Transport (DfT) says it plans to spend £57m on the project. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to formally announce the plans this summer.

This follows a trial of satellite connectivity with operators including LNER, South Western Railway and Great Western Railway, as well as in Scotland.

Under the current system, train wi-fi relies on the same 4G and 5G mobile network as passengers using their mobile phone data.

“If there is no signal outside the train, neither the wi-fi nor direct services will work,” the DfT says.

On Greater Anglia’s 16:30 back to London Liverpool Street station later the same day, the connection on my laptop is much slower and sometimes drops out completely. What surprises me is that my phone is able to connect – I can even watch YouTube videos on it. Other people on board tell me their laptops are connecting fine.

I try to upload photos for this article to a document-sharing site – but I’m not able to because of my poor connection.

Greater Anglia says its wi-fi relies on 3G and 4G mobile data signals and notes the quality of the connection varies depending on where you are along the route and how many people are using the wi-fi.

It also limits access to some video and music-streaming sites, as do many other operators. Greater Anglia is continuing to monitor wi-fi performance and is working with suppliers to improve connectivity.

Nelson Ntumba, 29, and Caitlin Roberts, 27, are using 5G to stream a TV show on their phones as they travel to London to visit family.

Caitlin often travels to Wigan and Doncaster, and says she usually brings a book or downloads TV shows or music in advance.

As a teacher, she says she often wants to work on the train, but says the connection usually isn’t good enough. Sometimes she even struggles to get enough signal to load up her train ticket, she says.

One particularly stressful occasion was earlier this year, on an East Midlands Railway train from Nottingham to London. I needed to renew my railcard – but it took almost the entire journey to actually get enough data to make the purchase.

Nelson often has “major issues” accessing train wi-fi too. But sometimes, he says, it’s nice to have a digital detox without his phone pinging.

For some people, not having wi-fi when they’re travelling for leisure isn’t the end of the world. Maya Lane, 23, says she usually spends her train journeys reading or crocheting.

“We’re not people who are super online all the time,” Maya says about herself and her friend Safia Nazir, 26, as they travel to a modelling shoot.

But bad connection on trains is still annoying, she continues, especially when she’s trying to work.

“Sometimes people pick trains so they have the option of working while they’re travelling,” she says, adding that operators shouldn’t advertise their wi-fi as a benefit of rail travel if it is unreliable.

Some people have their own solutions – like Bhaav, 32, who often hotspots his phone data to his laptop. He’s tried to take work calls on trains before, but says it’s “almost impossible”. Sometimes his online documents don’t save and his instant messages don’t send, he says.

“Given the train prices, it’s pretty frustrating,” Bhaav says.

Bus or Lime bike? New subscription heats up the race for a cheaper commute

I was on a flight – but British Airways told me I wasn’t

Driving instructors say rising prices are fair – but learners can’t keep up