Irish Rail to look at wi-fi for trains

THE prospect of wireless internet access — wi-fi — on all trains is being looked at by Irish Rail.

This follows a pledge from an Irish company that it will install a public wi-fi service on all Irish trains free of charge.

Irish Rail said it is meeting with Birr-based Airappz to discuss the possibility. However, it said the awarding of such a contract would have to be put out to tender.

Airappz boss, Evert Bopp, said Ireland lags behind when it comes to the provision of public wi-fi access on trains.

Such services are widely available on trains all over the world, he claims.

“Wi-fi is used as an extra service for travellers and has lead to increased passengers numbers,” he said.

The Irish Rail website states that Iarnród Éireann feels that it wouldn’t be in the public or the company’s best interest to install the current wireless technologies on its fleet for customer use due to the limited life-span of said technologies.

“Anything we install now is likely to be completely redundant within five years,” it says.

It also said it feels customers would be better supported by obtaining their own wireless solutions, such as those provided by the mobile providers.

A spokesman for Irish Rail said its main focus is on delivering a frequent, competitive service.

He said the company believed the roads and not the airlines were its main competitor.

Mr Bopp said he believes the availability of wi-fi internet access will entice more people to use the train services.

“This will lead to increased revenue for the companies providing the transport, but it will also lead to fewer cars on the road which in turn will lead to lower CO2 emission and less road traffic accidents,” he said.