Britain’s onboard train wi-fi has been ranked 16th out of 18 major European and Asian countries, according to a report by network testing company Ookla.
The report found average speeds in the UK sit at just 1.09 Megabits per second, compared to 64.58 Mbps in Sweden and 29.79 Mbps in Switzerland.
By contrast, the average maximum download speed for UK households and small businesses stands at a much faster 285 Mbps, according to Ofcom.
The government has announced plans to boost train wi-fi speed and reliability over the next five years, rolling out new technology across 1,400 trains on mainline nationalised services.
The upgrade will allow trains to connect to low-earth satellites rather than mobile networks, with the Department for Transport planning to spend £57m on the project.
The government says it hopes to improve wi-fi availability from the current 50-60% to at least 90%, while also increasing speeds between five- and ten-fold.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to formally announce the plans this summer, following a trial of satellite connectivity with operators including LNER, South Western Railway and Great Western Railway, as well as in Scotland.
Passengers across the country say the current state of onboard connectivity is holding back their ability to work while travelling.
Rebecca Kendall, 36, head of operations for a charity, takes the train around six times a month and estimates she can manage only about half the tasks she would normally complete at her desk.
“I just wouldn’t risk having an important video call,” Rebecca says. “I would never plan one.”
Caitlin Roberts, 27, says she often wants to work on the train but says the connection usually is not good enough, and sometimes even struggles to load her train ticket.
Maya Lane, 23, argues that operators should not advertise wi-fi as a benefit of rail travel if it remains unreliable, saying “sometimes people pick trains so they have the option of working while they’re travelling.”
Some passengers have found their own workarounds, with Bhaav, 32, regularly hotspotting his phone data to his laptop, though he describes taking work calls on trains as “almost impossible.”
“Given the train prices, it’s pretty frustrating,” Bhaav says.
Under the current system, train wi-fi relies on the same 4G and 5G mobile network used by passengers on their phones, meaning poor external signal affects both equally.
Greater Anglia, whose services rely on 3G and 4G mobile data signals, notes that connection quality varies depending on location along the route and the number of passengers using the wi-fi simultaneously.