10 March 2023
Super fast WiFi planned at Woking Railway Station named best for London commuters
Planning application for super fast wifi mast would give rail passengers through Woking Railway Station wifi boost.
A Surrey railway station named the “best” for London commuters could get even better if plans to install high-speed wifi along the track go ahead. Woking topped a list of 30 of the busiest railway stations that are outside the M25 and within an hour of central London, according to data from performance tracking site On Time Trains.
The rankings were based on four factors, on-time performance, frequency of service, speed of travel and value. Now Evo-rail, a company that specialises in 5G coverage, has submitted a planing application for six-metre tall mast along the track near to the station, to boost network coverage to rail users of the Farnborough, Brookwood, and Woking services to and from Waterloo.
The application, validated by Woking Borough Council on Monday, March 6, is for a tall steel column on Network Rail land adjacent to Cemetery Pales, in Brookwood, to house radio antennae capable of transmitting superfast wifi. The radio equipment used, Evo-rail’s planning documents say, is based on technology similar to that used in home wifi setups but instead the signal is designed to only transmit along the railway track to the passing trains.
According to the application the minimal safety distance for human exposure to electromagnetic fields is 0.3m for the general public. The radio equipment will be placed more than 4m from the ground meaning nobody should be in harm’s range while the radio equipment transmits.
Evo-rail describes itself as the exclusive provider of rail-5G track-to-train communications that revolutionise passenger connectivity. According to the On Time Trains blog, Woking Railway Station took over the number one place for commuters from its pre-pandemic spot of 15th due to the performance improvements of its South Western Railway operated services. In 2018 it ranked bottom with just 15 per cent of commuter services running on time.
Credit: Surrey Live - By Chris Caulfield Local Democracy Reporter
