It has been affirmed by Translink that the testing for the above facilities mentioned have reached the finishing phase and in all probability the facility should be up and ready in the following months.
The Wi-Fi service has been previously offered in the chief intercity bus and train routes in the Republic. This service is already available in the buses services in Limerick, Dublin, Galway and Cork and the plans are currently to offer the same service in trains of the Greater Dublin region by the fall and that would also include the DART.
Those people utilising the key Goldline bus facilities of Translink as well as on the train on the main intercity tracks that would also include the facilities between Dublin and Belfast would be able to avail quicker access to real time news and social media. This would all be part of the plan to get as many people as possible to utilise the public transport services.
The Trains belonging to Translink have over 10.7 million people commuting in their trains annually. In fact it will be only one of the select transport firms to offer wireless broadband access free of charge.
An SLDP Member of the Regional Development Committee at Stormont, mentioned that the facility would be vital in the attempts made by Translink to encourage vehicle owners to travel by train rather than by road.
He went on to state that people driving on the roads have to bear with enough hassles like the increasing cost of fuel, costs incurred for car parking and bus lanes. With the introduction of the free Wi-Fi services on buses and trains, people could keep themselves busy accessing the Internet working on their mobile devices rather than sleep time off. This implies that they can be more productive even when they are on the move and this would be a very important drive.
