The rail-5G project is making huge steps forward with the implementation of the superfast onboard Wi-Fi for customers of South Western Railway between Basingstoke and Earlsfield. The Evo-Rail and South Western Railway project is in partnership with Network Rail and has seen engineers install the first set of rail-5G poles between the stations.

The project will be the first railway line in the UK to provide industry-leading rail-5G tech for customers and has already seen more than 100 trains kitted out in order to accommodate the technology which will cover 70km of the South Western Railway network.

Telecoms company Evo-rail is part of FirstGroup and has developed rail-5G to be the first multi-gigabit internet solution for railways. The impressive technology is capable of vastly improving connectivity on trains providing delivery of superfast continuous internet at 50 times the rate of current average speeds.

Passengers using rail-5G will benefit from unparalleled connectivity with speeds likened to that used within homes or office environments, providing them with the opportunity to stream videos, make video calls, download large files and much more.

A huge pilot of the scheme has been carried out on South Western Railway’s Island Line on the Isle of Wight and has been a resounding success, proving the rail-5G can consistently deliver 1GB per second on a moving train so much so that rail-5G is now being rolled out across other parts of the rail operators network

Designed and developed specifically as a solution for railways, rail-5G has outperformed all standards and regulations in both Europe and the UK in both trackside and train installation. The product has also been created to be fast to install and sustainable whilst providing a good return on investment for rail operators.

Early 2023 will see the project complete and launched for customers to use.

Christian Neill, Customer Experience Director for South Western Railway, said: “South Western Railway is committed to providing a modern customer experience for the digital age and rolling out new superfast internet, at 50 times the current average speeds, is an integral part of our plan to do that.

“Following a successful pilot on Isle of Wight’s Island Line, we are excited to deliver this industry-leading standard of internet connectivity for our customers, which will provide superfast and reliable Wi-Fi for 70km of railway between Basingstoke and Earlsfield.”

Simon Holmes, Managing Director, evo-rail, said: “Improving services for passengers through superfast and reliable connectivity – especially on-board Wi-Fi services – will be the keystone in rail becoming the transport mode of choice.

“Our solution can dramatically improve connectivity on passenger trains and the technology allows passengers to have constant, uninterrupted and consistent internet 50 times the average speed of today’s mobile connection.

“We are very excited for this milestone of our project with South Western Railway and Network Rail and look forward to bringing the solution to customers travelling between Earlsfield and Basingstoke.”