News

Wireless tube runs from Oxford to London - by bus - as GNER stops running

Oxford Tube is not an extension to London's Underground. It's a bus commuter service, which carries passengers between Oxford and central London and is operated by Stagecoach. And it has rolled out WiFi Internet to its 25 vehicles. Sadly, progress may be reversed on the rail, as WiFi pioneer GNER loses its track franchise.

According to Jo Best, the Oxford Tube uplink is provided using a WiFi and a 3G network - the former supplied by Moovera Networks, the latter by mobile operator Vodafone.

The launch follows a three-month trial by Stagecoach Group across the fleet, and Esme Vos reports that over 7,000 passengers have used the free service more than 32,000 times with an average session duration of 41 minutes.

Moovera has a PDF PR announcement downloadable. It also claims that passengers have switched from the train to Stagecoach’s Oxford Tube service after the company offered customers free email and web access as part of a trial of WiFi technology.

Despite much public blether, the London Tube still has zero WiFi or GSM or 3G wireless underground.

The bad news from the East Coast of the UK is that GNER, one of the first rail franchises to fit its trains with WiFi Internet services, has lost its licence. The good news is that GNER staff have joined with an alternative bidder, Virgin, which is proposing to use existing personnel and trains - and services.

A conference on wireless in trains is scheduled for June. "Train Communications Systems 2007" will be held in Central London on the 6th and 7th of June, 2007. Venue is the Harrington Hall Hotel, and organiser BWCS