HALF of Virgin West Coast’s fleet of 52 Pendolino trains have now been converted to provide better mobile phone reception — and broadband wi-fi will be available by the end of this year.

Ever since the Pendolinos were introduced to the West Coast Main Line (WCML) five years ago, passengers have complained of poor reception on mobile phones — due to the small windows, substantial steel construction of the coaches and extensive electronic systems used throughout the trains.  A recent conference in London was also told that each Virgin Pendolino train of nine carriages contains over 10 kilometres (six miles) of copper cable.

Passengers have also complained of inability to work with their computers on-line — a service available on the East Coast route now for several years, and more recently on Heathrow Express and on Southern’s Brighton line.

Now two major projects are under way for Virgin West Coast — Vodafone UK is improving the network coverage for mobile phones in all the Pendolino trains, while Nomad Digital is installing its passenger wireless Internet system for all the Pendolino trains using the WCML route. 

Over 22 million journeys are made on Virgin services on the WCML each year, 45 per cent of which are by business men and women.

Mobile phone coverage on board the trains is being improved by using technology that mimics the 2G and 3G coverage outside the train. So far, 25 of the 52 Pendolinos have been converted and Vodafone says the enhancements have already improved by around 60 per cent the number of calls completed without interruption.

Although the work is being carried out by Vodafone, Virgin says the technology —which boosts the signal inside the train, allowing people to make or receive calls and texts — works with all the main UK cellular phone companies, including O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.  Virgin says all trains will be fitted by November 2008. 

While there will still be some places where customers cannot get 100 per cent coverage, such as in tunnels, Virgin says in most cases the signal will be as strong as outside the train.

Broadband wi-fi ‘by end of year’

But there will be no loss of coverage when passengers are able to use broadband wi-fi on Virgin Pendolinos. 

Hexham, Northumberland, based Nomad Digital says its system works all along a corridor of wireless coverage, allowing information to be sent and received at speeds up to 25 times faster than domestic broadband internet access — including in tunnels.

Nomad's system works by linking trains to trackside wireless base stations, located every few miles along the route, for a reliable and seamless broadband connection to the internet.

Nomad is equipping the 650 kilometres (404 miles) of the West Coast route — which connects London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, and is Europe’s busiest mainline railway.

The new wi-fi service, when it starts, will allow passengers to read emails, browse the web and download digital data, such as music and games, throughout their journeys.

Virgin says the broadband service will become operational by the end of the year “when the necessary masts have been installed between Euston (London) and Rugby.”

Last year, Nomad installed its system on the Heathrow Express service, which links central London with the UK’s busiest international airport. It also operates a system in partnership with T- Mobile on the London-Brighton line.