Simon Calder urges Labour to make train upgrade now – ‘desperately needed’

Simon Calder has urged Sir Keir Starmer's Government to move “quite a lot quicker” to deliver a vital upgrade to the UK's railways. Reacting to the Government's plans to connect 1,400 trains across the UK to low-earth satellites and rollout WiFi onboard, the travel expert said the upgrades would be “desperately needed” but raised concerns about the expected time to complete them.

According to a Government source, the plan, which aims to replace current mobile networks, would "rocket boost connectivity on every main line train in Britain over the next few years, tackling both slow speeds and irritating not-spots”. It hopes the upgrade will improve WiFi availability across journeys from between 50 and 60% to at least 90% and prove more effective than the current system of relying on 4G and 5G signal provided by local mobile network operators' masts. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to make an announcement about the plans this summer.

However, according to Mr Calder, there are "reports that it could take five years," to implement the upgrade, but he stressed that “we need it quite, quite a lot quicker than [that]". He also warned that the rollout could initially be inconsistent across the rail network.

“The other problem is that it's all going to be pretty patchy because on some trains it will work great and on some it won't,” he told GB News.

He also highlighted the poor state of connectivity on Britain’s railways, arguing that reliable onboard wifi remains the exception rather than the rule: “The list of operators where the wifi is actually regarded as quite good is quite short, and the list where it's terrible is very, very long".

Despite his concerns, the travel expert insisted passengers would still support the plans. He argued improved connectivity could also help reduce the huge taxpayer subsidies currently required to keep Britain’s railways operating.

“If you can attract more people on board, then you cut that subsidy. And it's a really good way to get people out of their cars.

“Take a journey such as Manchester to London, about four hours by car, but you could say to people that it could be just a bit over two hours, and you will have fantastic connectivity all the way on the train," he added. "It should provide good connectivity across quite a lot of the country. And crucially, it shouldn't make too much difference how many people are on your train at the moment.”

Explaining how the new system would work, Mr Calder suggested Labour may be reluctant to draw attention to the involvement of Elon Musk’s Starlink network, which would be used alongside fibre optic cables to improve connectivity in tunnels and remote areas. Mr Musk has clashed with the Labour Government, often using X (formerly Twitter) to criticise its stance on immigration, policing and free speech.

“The Government, interestingly, is perhaps being a little quiet about the fact that this involves Elon Musk's Starlink enterprise,” he said. “This is a system where you have fibre optic cables laid in tunnels and in deep cuttings, the sorts of places that even Elon Musk's satellite signal can't get to.”