GNER a leading UK train operator is testing Icomera’s Wireless Onboard Internet as is Grand Central, the UK?s newest train operator and the leading Scandinavian Train Operator, SJ.

Icomera?s end-to-end solution includes hardware, software and communication channels using different wireless technologies i.e. satellite and multiple GSM/UMTS/HSDPA links in parallel for reliability.

Altamont Commuter Express is moving towards equipping its trains with WiFi on all ACE trains. Service tests are now being performed by Parsons, the system integrator. The price of the whole project for ACE has yet to be determined, but it will be partially subsidized by a marketing partnership with the University of Phoenix, which hopes to encourage passengers to take online classes while riding the trains.

Earlier, Ottawa-based PointShot Wireless was used in a three-month experiment for ACE passengers while making the three-hour, 172-mile round trip from Stockton to San Jose, California. Parsons develops and markets back office computer systems for rail companies and provides IT outsourcing services. Parsons also got the contract for Seattle’s Bremerton Ferry but there have been several delays, reports the Seattle Times.

Here’s a rundown of some of the locomotive hotspots around the world that you should check out next time you’re riding the rails.

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has several train lines with Internet access and plans to offer it.

• Southern Railway, which provides train service between London and Brighton, offers Internet access through T-Mobile. iPass customers can get connected on that rail line today through the iPass partnership with T-Mobile. And once you’ve arrived at your destination, passengers can continue using the service at other iPass locations, including T-Mobile Hotspot venues at Heathrow Airport, Starbucks coffee shops and Borders bookstores.
• T-Mobile is also launching a service on Heathrow Express trains that’s expected to be operational by mid-2007.
• GNER provides offers Wi-Fi service on every train along the East Coast between London and Aberdeen.
• Virgin Trains announced it would launch Wi-Fi service on its West Coast Main Line high-speed trains in 2007. According to Parsons, Virgin Trains is currently testing service on a couple of its trains which operate from London to Glasgow.

Sweden

• Scandinavian train operator SJ offers wireless Internet on all of its 85 trains through Swedish service provider Icomera.

North America
A company called PointShot Wireless is working with three rail operators in North America.

• In a partnership with Bell Canada, PointShot provides service on most trains in southern Ontario and southern Quebec.
• In the San Francisco metro region, Pointshot was involved in a pilot project by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and the California Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCCJPA). Currently, BART and CCCJPA are testing and evaluating several different technologies for service on Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor train, which runs between San Jose and Auburn. They hope to launch a commercial service by mid-2008.
• Also in California, the Altamont Commuter Express, which operates between San Jose and Stockton, has been trialing PointShot’s technology and expects to offer commercial service soon.
• And in Los Angeles, the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has ordered a feasibility study on how to provide Wi-Fi on trains.

Very few train lines in North America have wireless capability, partially because of the difficulty of maintaining a signal to a speeding target along a narrow corridor.

While long distance rail may need satellite links to fill in sparce rural cellular coverage, metropolitan light rail may have fewer difficulties.

Construction is underway for the first commuter rail line in Oregon. The Washington County Commuter Rail will carry passengers between Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville when the line opens in September 2008. Cellular EVDO/HSPA or Mobile WiMAX backbones (from both Sprint and Clearwire) could be an option in 2008. In fact, it probably won’t be an option — commuters will demand it.

For cellular backbones, WAAV makes ?mobile access points? that allow Internet connectivity in mobile environments. Their AirBox CM3 provides local Wi-Fi hotspot service with integrated cellular backhaul.

The AirBox X2 ($1099), is the first mobile cellular router that establishes two cellular Internet connections, binding them together for additional speed. It can also utilize WiMAX or 4.9 GHz public service frequencies for the backhaul, mixing and matching various types of backbone providers.

The optional GPS adapter allows you to track a vehicle in real time. WAAV provides a simple web page to view your vehicle on Google Maps or Google Earth. View a single vehicle or your entire fleet at once. Easily toggle between map and satellite imagery views.

A service called Avis Connect (left), is provided by Autonet Mobile using 3G and 2.5G (EVDO, 1xRTT) connections. For an extra $10.95 per day, Avis says renters get wireless broadband connectivity “at all times and places during their travel, from airports to meetings to hotels, and everything in between.” Autonet’s mobile in-car router will begin shipping in late summer with price tag of $399 plus a monthly subscription of $49.95 for unlimited data.

How long until Navigation devices like the Mio DigiWalker (right) sprout Mobile WiMAX backbones with local WiFi access for trains, buses and automobiles?

If transit agencies don’t provide cost/effective mobile connectivity, altruistic commuters might do it themselves. And save.

Related Transit Connectivity articles on DailyWireless include; TrainFi On the Move, Buses Get WiFi, Wireless Parking, Houston METRO Unwired, Autonomous Bus, WiFi Train a Comin?, Washington?s HiWay WiFi, San Francisco BusFii and Train Surfing. Location-based services articles include; GeoVector 2.0 Streetside Navigation on a Phone, What Up at Where 2.0, Trip Mapping, 3-D Traffic/Weather Maps, Mapping Goes Live, Mobile Ad Delivery for Traffic.com, WiFi Tracking Tags from AeroScout, PanGo & Ekahau, Geocoding Content & Telemetry, GPS Tracking: In a Shoe, On a Bike, MIT?s SENSEable City, and Cellular Navigation/Tracking.

Read more at: http://www.dailywireless.org/2007/06/11/mobilizing-wifi-on-trains/.