South Western Railway has begun a one‑year satellite Wi‑Fi trial on 20 December 2025 across the London Waterloo–Portsmouth Harbour–Weymouth corridor. The Department for Transport (DfT) frames the pilot as an early deliverable under its passenger‑focused reforms linked to Great British Railways.
Powered by Starlink equipment from SpaceX and fitted to a Class 444 unit, the trial targets one of the network’s most persistent not‑spots through the New Forest. Early test runs have achieved a reported 97% coverage rate on this section, which has historically left passengers offline for more than 20 minutes.
Ministers position the pilot alongside Project Reach, the national programme to remove mobile blackspots and upgrade rail telecoms. Signed in June 2025 with Neos Networks and Freshwave, the partnership is forecast to save taxpayers around £300 million, begin installation in 2026 and complete by 2028, including 1,000 km of initial fibre, systems in 57 tunnels and strengthened 4G/5G at 12 major stations.
The trial follows the transfer of South Western Railway into public ownership on 25 May 2025. That transfer rests on the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, which enables services to move to DfT Operator Limited ahead of the creation of Great British Railways. DfT indicates publicly owned operators account for roughly a third of journeys at present.
The statutory framework for Great British Railways is progressing separately. The Railways Bill completed Second Reading in the House of Commons on 9 December 2025, with Public Bill Committee scrutiny scheduled from January, establishing the basis for a single ‘directing mind’ to unify track and train.
Alongside connectivity upgrades, the government has announced a freeze in regulated rail fares for the first time in 30 years, confirmed on 23 November 2025. The Treasury and DfT present the freeze as support for household budgets within wider reforms to rebuild a publicly owned Great British Railways.
DfT also cites operational changes at South Western Railway since transfer, including a reported quadrupling of Arterio units in daily service and a near‑12% increase in morning peak capacity into London Waterloo since May. These are presented as early signs of service improvement under public ownership.
DfT notes that traditional onboard Wi‑Fi aggregates terrestrial mobile signals, which can degrade in busy or rural areas, while the satellite approach should offer a more resilient backhaul where conventional coverage is weak. The pilot will be used to assess coverage stability, throughput and performance across known not‑spots.
If results hold, officials indicate the technology could be extended across the SWR fleet and considered by other publicly owned operators. For programme teams and suppliers, the key dates remain 2026 for the first Project Reach installations and 2028 for full deployment, subject to delivery under the partnership agreements.