The body responsible for managing Britain’s railway infrastructure has promised to eliminate mobile phone blackspots on several major railway lines and train tunnels by 2028. This will be achieved through a partnership with two private telecoms companies, which will improve 4G and 5G connectivity on trains and in stations. The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that work will begin next year and is expected to take three years to complete due to the need to work when trains are not running on the tracks.
The first phase of the project, known as Project Reach, will involve the installation of 1,000km of ultra-fast fibre optic cable along parts of the East Coast Main Line and the West Coast Main Line. This will be expanded to cover more than 5,000km in the future, although an exact timeline has not been revealed. In addition, telecoms company Freshwave will be responsible for eliminating blackspots in 57 tunnels, with a focus on tunnels longer than 250m on the East Coast, West Coast, and Great Western lines. This will involve collaboration with mobile network operators BT, O2, and VodafoneThree, and will also include the installation of new 4G and 5G infrastructure in 12 major Network Rail stations.
The project is expected to save taxpayers around £300m, as the private telecoms companies are funding the upgrades instead of Network Rail having to renew its existing infrastructure. Network Rail’s chief financial officer Jeremy Westlake stated that this investment model will allow for faster upgrades and significant cost savings for taxpayers, while also stimulating economic benefits across the country.
Campaign group Rail Future has welcomed the news, with spokesman Bruce Williamson stating that better connectivity on trains is highly sought after by passengers who rely on their smartphones for work and entertainment. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander also praised the project, stating that it will support the government’s goals of economic growth and digital innovation, and will ultimately lead to a more reliable and efficient service for passengers.