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Survey: Give us Wi-Fi trains

Jo Best silicon.com

Published: 21 May 2004 11:05 BST

Commuters are crying out for Wi-Fi on their trains and in their train stations -- it's all work, work, work for tech-savvy travellers.

Independent research commissioned by Internet access supplier Broadreach shows Brits are already working when they're travelling by train -- and they reckon Wi-Fi would give them a business edge.

Of those travellers queried across the UK, about 80 percent were already working during a train journey - making business calls, doing paperwork and so on -- with 85 percent agreeing that using Wi-Fi while they travel would make the time more productive.

That, according to Broadreach chief executive Magnus McEwen-King, is the reason why train Wi-Fi will take off. "We're not changing commuters' behaviour here, this isn't a new end-user concept -- [travellers] are already working on trains," he said.

Expect to see the business case for Wi-Fi making its way onto expense sheets in the near future.

Fifty-seven percent of travellers saw Wi-Fi as a "justifiable business expense" while 13 percent said they thought it expensing the cost of access wouldn't get the thumbs up from the finance department.

Travellers' opinions on Wi-Fi access in stations themselves was a roughly equal split, with half saying they're not interested and half saying they are. Wi-Fi really comes into its own, however, when the trains are delayed.