Skip to main content

Queensland providing free Wi-Fi on city trains

In an Australian first, free wireless internet technology will be rolled out on all new Queensland Rail city trains from later this year. The announcement follows a successful Wi-Fi trial and the Queensland government will now spend AU$6.5 million (US$6.98 million) installing the technology in new trains. "The trial has been a huge success, the technology has been installed and is now fully operational on the test-train with customers able to sit, back and take advantage of the free internet on their journe
March 23, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
In an Australian first, free wireless internet technology will be rolled out on all new 4227 Queensland Rail city trains from later this year. The announcement follows a successful Wi-Fi trial and the Queensland government will now spend AU$6.5 million (US$6.98 million) installing the technology in new trains.

"The trial has been a huge success, the technology has been installed and is now fully operational on the test-train with customers able to sit, back and take advantage of the free internet on their journey to and from work" said transport minister Annastacia Palaszczuk. "Installation on the first of 64 new trains will begin in October and we're expecting to have Wi-Fi installed across the entire 160 and 260 series fleet by the end of next year.

According to Queensland Rail CEO Paul Scurrah, "This project isn't only about free internet for our customers, but it also increases our security capacity by allowing live streaming from our CCTV cameras on board the Wi-Fi trains.

The Wi-Fi trial started late last year on one train which travelled across the City network. The trial included tests of 3G coverage capability of internet and CCTV live streaming. There was an average of 228 weekly users on the test train, with more than 5,000 in total during the trial.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Vehicular networking architecture for local road weather services
    August 19, 2015
    The Finnish Meteorological Institute is currently testing two-way delivery of local weather data as Timo Sukuvaara explains. Road weather information is one of the key ways in which ITS can help reduce traffic accidents and fatalities – which is why the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has long provided road weather services. Now, the CoMoSeF (Cooperative Mobility Services of the Future) project has been developing communication methodologies to deliver road weather services directly to vehicles and g
  • City of North Vancouver opts for wireless traffic communications
    April 29, 2015
    Wireless solutions supplier Intuicom, in conjunction with Econolite Canada, has been awarded the Wireless Traffic Communications Project for the City of North Vancouver, Canada. The contract includes the supply, installation, configuration, testing and training of the complete wireless system for the City and integrates the City’s IP-based traffic signal controllers while providing centralised monitoring and management of the entire traffic network from the City’s traffic management centre. Intuicom
  • Truck tolls set to replace French ecotax
    June 24, 2014
    The controversial ecotax on heavy goods vehicles that sparked protests across France last year has been consigned to the scrapheap, according to a report in French newspaper The Connexion. Prime Minister Manuel Valls has confirmed that the government will roll out a new system of road tolls on trucks using roads with particularly heavy freight traffic. The charge will be imposed on vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes using 4,000 kilometres of roads that carry more than 2,500 heavy goods vehicles a day
  • Australian road pricing, road funding needs more debate
    January 31, 2012
    Everyone in the road transport industry in Australia is talking road pricing - everyone, that is, except the politicians. Christine Keyes reports. At the end of 2008, Australia's road transport industry was wringing its collective hands, unable to raise more than $100 million from an individual bank for any Public Private Partnership (PPP). The A$750 million Peninsula Link project, announced by the Victoria Government in March 2009, was the first road project in the country to be put out to market as an ava