Oyez, oyez! Virgin Trains customers get on-board WiFi from North Wales and Chester

On the day the Prime Minister used Virgin’s 125 mph service to travel to engagements in Cheshire, Chester’s Town Crier has launched high speed wireless internet for passengers on all Virgin trains between London Euston, Chester and north Wales.

Using the ancient technology of bell and voice, Town Crier David Mitchell stars in a YouTube clip promoting the introduction of the latest communications technology on Virgin’s fleet of 125 mph Super Voyager trains. Showing how the noisy Town Crier copes with a quiet carriage by using wi-fi , the clip also gives instructions on how to win wi-fi enabled phones from Virgin Mobile and First Class Virgin train tickets by visitinghttp://www.christmasincheshire.com/

The WiFi HotSpot service will provide a wireless broadband connection throughout the entire journey at high speeds – including tunnels! The HotSpot service has been rolled out for Virgin by T-Mobile and its partner Nomad Digital.

The HotSpot service will provide train passengers with fast and reliable access to the internet, email and other applications, whether for work or leisure purposes. First Class passengers will get complimentary access to the service, while other passengers can buy HotSpot passes online from their Wi-Fi enabled device. Existing T-Mobile Mobile customers on the mobile broadband tariff have unlimited HotSpot access, which means they are able to access the new service at no extra cost.

T-Mobile provides Wi-Fi HotSpot access across the UK, including the places regular cellular network technology finds harder to reach. In January 2009 T-Mobile’s service came top in the independent YouGov survey of 1,958 mobile broadband users. The results ranked T-Mobile first in nine out of 13 categories including upload and download speeds, customer service, easy start up and use, and value for money.

Graham Leech, Executive Director Commercial for Virgin Trains said:

“We’re always looking at ways to improve the travel experience for our passengers so we’re pleased to be able to answer their requests for access to the internet on our trains. We hope this latest improvement to our services will make travelling between north Wales, Chester and London all the more enjoyable and productive. T-Mobile and Nomad have a great record of delivering these types of projects and we’re confident our customers will receive the fast, reliable internet access they require.”

Commenting on the news, Richard Warmsley, Head of Internet and Entertainment for T-Mobile UK said:

“As the popularity of mobile broadband continues to soar, we want to do everything we can to offer people access to the internet wherever they are. This provides a unique solution on-board Virgin Trains , at no extra cost to our pay monthly Mobile Broadband customers, and available to everyone, whatever mobile phone network they use. From business users checking emails or sending documents on the way to and from work, to people checking their Facebook, or downloading songs for the trip, this new mobile broadband service offers all passengers the opportunity to make the most of their journeys.”

Graeme Lowdon, Nomad founder and Chief Executive commented:

“We are delighted to be building on the success of the Wifi internet service already offered on Virgin's Pendolino fleet. Business and leisure passengers travelling between London, Chester and North Wales will be getting the best service available given that Nomad - the global market leader for high speed wireless communication systems in rail - has deployed the latest solution on Virgin’s Super Voyager fleet”

~ ENDS ~

Notes for editors

http://www.christmasincheshire.com/ is a website produced by Visit Chester and Cheshire, the tourism management organisation for Chester and Cheshire which is funded and supported by the North West Regional Development Agency, three local authorities and over 400 private sector tourism stakeholders in Cheshire. The special seasonal website highlights festive events, shopping opportunities, festive food trails, winter wonderland garden trails and the attractions of Cheshire’s market towns.