Wi-Fi on NS trains on last legs after 15 years

Fifteen years after its introduction, Wi-Fi on NS trains seems to be on its last legs. Telecom providers have surpassed what the network can offer, and the loss-making NS is not investing in it anymore, but the rail company can’t cut it either. “It’s still being used, and we have to offer it according to the concession,” NS spokesperson Oscar van Olferen told the Telegraaf.

In its heyday, train passengers logged onto train networks 7.6 million times a month. Now that number is down to around 3 million. Privacy concerns mean that people are increasingly avoiding public networks, and telecom providers have by far surpassed what the NS network can offer. The Wi-Fi on trains is at best suitable for checking emails or messages or visiting a website, and even that often fails.

“Our network has been overtaken by what providers offer,” Van Olferen said. Most people have a big data plan and excellent 5G. The trains offer 4G, and that capacity is shared among passengers.

The rail company is obliged by its concession to keep offering the service, which costs several million euros per year, money the loss-making rail service can hardly afford. According to Van Olferen, the Minister could make an exception and allow NS to scrap the service. “We’re keeping a close eye on that.”

NS suffered a loss of 60 million euros in the first half of the year. The company’s costs are higher than the revenue generated from train tickets. When presenting the half-year figures, the NS said that it must continue finding ways to cut costs so that it could keep train tickets “relatively affordable.” Last month, caretaker State Secretary Thierry Aartsen (Public Transport) announced that train tickets will increase by 6 to 9 percent next year.

Despite this, the travelers’ association Rover is against the idea of cutting NS’s Wi-Fi service. “Those 3 million logins per month show that the need is still high. Moreover, if you offer traveler information digitally, you also have to offer internet. The question then is, do you abolish it because it’s so bad, or do you improve it? And why, for example, isn’t there Wi-Fi at stations, where you want to be able to look up your journey if the screens aren’t working?”