Press release -
Virgin Trains fully equipped with free Wi-Fi and entertainment
- Free Wi-Fi available on Pendolino fleet
- New onboard portal vthub.uk introduced across network
- Final Pendolino was upgrade earlier this month
Virgin Trains customers will now be able to enjoy free Wi-Fi and greater access to its entertainment hub BEAM on board thanks to an upgrade to its Pendolino fleet.
The final train in a fleet of 56 Pendolinos was fitted with new hardware earlier this month and is part of a range of improvements to improve customer experience on Virgin Trains across the UK network.
As part of the upgrade, the trains have had a complete refresh with engineers installing 77,183 metres (47.96 miles) of cable into the 574 coaches.
This development comes as a new onboard portal - vthub.uk - has also been developed by Virgin Trains for those travelling to get the most from of their journey.
Anyone using Wi-Fi on Virgin Trains will be directed to the portal’s landing page where they will able to access the updated free onboard train entertainment service BEAM, as well as access to journey planner and the food and beverage menu.
Chief Information Officer at Virgin Trains, John Sullivan, said:
“We’ve been working hard to deliver the best on board entertainment and Wi-Fi experience for our customers and I believe we’ve achieved that with this latest upgrade.
“Our enhanced Wi-Fi means customers can stay connected and up to date as they travel or dip into the latest boxsets and movies through our entertainment service BEAM. We know how important Wi-Fi is for all our customers and we want them to have an amazing experience while travelling on our network.”
The hardware and software for the Wi-Fi upgrade was supplied by McLaren Applied Technologies, which draws on a 30-year heritage leading the transformation of motorsport and Formula 1 and has been tested over a number of months to deliver an improvement in coverage and performance.
Paul Bebbington, Director of Public Transport, McLaren Applied Technologies, said:
“We’re delighted to have worked with Virgin Trains on improving train connectivity performance, keeping customers connected for longer and enabling more data consumption on its fleet.
In the transport sector, McLaren Applied Technologies is committed to staying at the forefront of technology and innovation, creating long-term passenger and fleet reliability solutions, and we’re extremely proud to have contributed to Virgin Trains’ vision for the ‘Digital Train of the Future’.”
Topics
- Art, Culture, Entertainment
About Virgin Trains
Stagecoach and Virgin are working in partnership to operate the West Coast inter-city route under the Virgin Trains brand, revolutionising travel on one of the UK’s key rail arteries.
The network connects some of the nation’s most iconic destinations including Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester and London.
Virgin Trains is committed to delivering a high speed, high frequency service, offering shorter journey times, more comfortable travel and excellent customer service. Customers consistently rate Virgin Trains ahead of other long-distance rail franchise operators in the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS) commissioned by industry watchdog, Transport Focus.
Virgin Trains has a proud record of challenging the status quo - from introducing tilting Pendolino trains, to a pioneering automated delay repay scheme, introducing the industry-leading onboard entertainment streaming service, BEAM, and becoming the first franchised rail operator to offer m-Tickets for all ticket types.
Virgin Trains operated the East Coast route between March 1, 2015 and June 24, 2018. In that time, we invested £75m to create a more personalised travel experience, including over £40m in the existing fleet. Customers have benefitted from 48 additional services between Edinburgh and London every week, and an extra 22 Saturday services between Leeds and London – a total of 1.74 million additional seats since May 2015.
Working together, the partnership railway of the public and private sectors has published a long-term plan, called In Partnership for Britain’s Prosperity, to change and improve Britain’s railway. The plan will secure almost £85bn of additional economic benefits to the country whilst enabling further investment and improvement, and contains four commitments which will see rail companies: strengthen our economic contribution to the country; improve customers’ satisfaction; boost the communities we serve; and, create more and better jobs in rail. For more information go to Britain Runs on Rail.
Visit the Virgin Trains Media Room - virgintrains.co.uk/about/media-room - for the latest news, images and videos. Subscribe here for regular news from Virgin Trains.
Press Office: 0845 000 3333.
About BEAM
BEAM is our free onboard entertainment service. Giving you access to hundreds of hours of the universe’s best TV and movies, from classics to cult viewing. This also includes Amazon Prime Originals featuring shows such as The Grand Tour and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. We’ve also got newspapers, magazines, and games, all ready and waiting to be streamed direct to your device.
https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/experience/beam
About McLaren Applied Technologies
Part of the McLaren Group, McLaren Applied Technologies works at the intersection of technology, data and human ingenuity to deliver quantifiable performance advantage to four key sectors undergoing large-scale disruptive change; Motorsport, Automotive, Public Transport and Health. Drawing on a 30-year heritage leading the digital transformation of motorsport through electronics and data systems, we now develop transformative products and solutions that harness our expertise in electronic systems, electric drive, telemetry, software, sensor technology, simulation, predictive analytics, and design.
mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies
For press enquiries: Ella Geraerdts | 07468 719840
