Free Wifi on all Dublin-Cork trains

[Kilocharlie]

http://irishrail.ie/news_centre/news...ew&news_id=981

FREE WI-FI TO BE INTRODUCED ACROSS DUBLIN-CORK INTERCITY SERVICES by Corporate Communications

FREE WI-FI TO BE INTRODUCED ACROSS DUBLIN-CORK INTERCITY SERVICES FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL TRIAL PERIOD

Iarnród Éireann has announced that it is to extend Wi-Fi service across the full Dublin-Cork Intercity fleet following a successful trial on one train on the route.

Furthermore, the company is to assess the coverage and reliability of Wi-Fi technology on other routes on the national network, with a view to further expansion.

Selected services on Dublin-Cork were equipped with Wi-Fi between March and October of this year, and the uptake from customers has been enthusiastic.

A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said “given the nature of the trial, and the fact that it was restricted to selected services, the usage of Wi-Fi was extremely high. Many customers would not have known the service they were boarding had Wi-Fi but still availed of it in heavy numbers. As well as offering increasingly competitive journey times, we can offer productive time to our customers – for work, reading, or viewing - and the roll-out of Wi-Fi will enhance this dramatically. Customers will be able access the Internet to check their email, surf the web, play games and connect to their corporate network. The system will be available for everyone to use once they have a Wi-Fi enabled device such as a Laptop, IPhone or smart phone.”

Iarnród Éireann have now gone to tender for a supplier of Wi-Fi on the Dublin-Cork fleet of 67 carriages, and it is expected the service will be introduced in the first quarter of the New Year. The company also intends to offer Wi-Fi for free to customers.

“We tested customer demand for both free Wi-Fi and pay-per-usage, and while demand was strong throughout, it is clear that customers see a major benefit in Wi-Fi on-board, meaning it is a marketing tool in itself. Free Wi-Fi will increase demand for our services. Together with discount fares, a modern comfortable fleet of trains, faster journey times, and on-board catering, the quality of our Intercity services is increasing all the time, and meeting our customer’s demands more and more.”

[Mark Gleeson]

This was actually authorized in September 2009, classic slow news day material.

All 8 Dublin Cork sets to be fitted

Skype, youtube, rte player etc may not work or may only work for a short period of time

[comcor]

When is this actually going to be in place?

Seeing that I'm on a train at the moment and have had to tether my laptop to my phone to get online.

[comcor]

OK At this point I've been on a number of trains with Wi Fi on them (at least when I see Irishrail_wifi as a network for the length of the journey, I assume that's the case) and always the same experience. It doesn't work...

So tethered up to my iPhone, I'm posting here from the train to see if anyone can assist or whether it's a case of the Wi Fi just not working with Irish Rail not even have procedures in place to check.

First the computer. It's a 4 month old MacBook Air running SnowLeopard and has never had a problem connecting to another network, even one with Windows-based authentication turned on.

So these are the screenshots I get when I look in at the network settings





So is it something I need to change? Is there something constantly wrong with the network itself?

Any ideas?

[Mark Gleeson]

There are no trains operating between Dublin and Cork currently with WIFI access, no even a discrete test. There may be a single train with the original test equipment or it could be a quirk of wifi devices broadcasting a SSID they saw before

The tendering process is more or less complete and we should be seeing roll out in coming months. I don't know who won the tender.

[Colm Moore]

Are you actually seeing (but not able to access) their private network that is used to update things like seat reservations?

[Mark Gleeson]

As we understand 4 companies came forward after Irish Rail publicly sought proposals to deliver Wifi onboard.

Only one of those companies actually delivered a working on train trial, that was Fleetconnect who seem to be acting as an agent of Icomera. We are unsure as to the reasons why the other three failed to deliver a working on train trial. There are very demanding safety certification standards to be met, this tends to trip up some of the cheap and cheerful offerings as the cost to get certified is significant (Icomera are certified in the UK, Sweden and others and under EU law Irish Rail accepts that certification)

A previous "free" offer disappeared. A representative of that company got quite flustered when we asked for evidence that they could deliver, white papers, previous customers etc.

A tendering process followed the trial. This was a long drawn out process and we understand a company has been chosen and various legal/contractual requirements for the deal are now complete and the equipment will be fitted very very soon.

As a result it is too late and bear in mind contracts are "most economically advantageous tender" so price is not necessarily the deciding factor. Technical capability was the key concern we understand.

[Jamie2k9]

From IR twitter page:

Free Wi-fi coming soon to Dublin-Cork services. Watch this space.

Do they plan on having it on other services?

[Thomas Ralph]

Unlikely; the rolling stock isn't equipped. Only the Mk4 carriages are.

[comcor]

There's now a network called free_Train_WI-FI showing up, but it's password protected.

[Mark Gleeson]

Worst kept secret it is Fleetconnect/Icomera who got the contract

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...i-2822438.html

The proposals to cover all other intercity routes are nowhere near as far advanced as the article would suggest

Edit PR from Fleetconnect with someone other than Barry Kenny...

http://www.fleetconnect.ie/pdfs/pres...ease_IR_V3.pdf

Compared to the size of the box 4 years ago when I met Icomera in the UK, its now tiny http://icomera.com/assets/Uploads/do...6-PS-EU-r5.pdf

[Mark Gleeson]

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/...w&news_id=1165

Some clarity

Its the Dublin Cork fleet plus 60 of the ICR fleet (there are 10 * 6 coach first class sets) But no mention of Dublin Belfast.

Routes which will be covered

1. Dublin Cork
2. Dublin Tralee direct
3. All first class services to/from Galway/Limerick/Waterford

In that case there is no plan to offer service to Westport/Rosslare/Sligo as these do not have first class, plus coverage particularly on the Rosslare line rules out a reliable service