In the move to to upgrade the West Coast mainline trains, Virgin Trains will give passengers journeying from Liverpool to London, the benefit of free onboard Wi-Fi. Virgin Trains will deploy the Wi-Fi service later this year, on all its Pendolino trains. A company spokesperson said the installation of the upgrade will start in May this year, as part of a new deal agreed to run the West Cost train franchise up to March next year.
The spokesperson said all the 56 Pendolino trains will undergo the refit that will allow the free Wi-Fi access to all customers and vastly improve equipment on-board. The spokesperson said the work is expected to be finished by January next year and that more than 85% of their passengers travel on Pendolinos. In addition, the new ‘future-proofed’ tech will work with 5G mobile networks, as and when they come on stream, offering improved speed, as the upgrade will allow more future technology-led improvements, all going to increase customer satisfaction, the spokesperson explained.
Phil Whittingham, the MD of Virgin Trains on the West Coast, said he is happy that they have secured a new contract to continue operation, having led the industry for more than 2 decades. The investment will bring big improvements in on-board Wi-Fi and follow with innovations like automatic delay-repay and an app for free films and TV on-board, he added. Phil Whittingham said he is pleased to to offer almost all their customers access to the improved free Wi-Fi, as it is a top customer priority and it upgrades both speed and availability. The deal worth £7.5 million will see, beside the upgrades, a number of improvements across services, including investigating the ‘not-spots’ on the network and also upgrades to toilets and seats at stations, plus extras staff.
