ISC chuffed with railway broadband contract

Reseller to install Wi-Fi access on GNER trains

UK reseller ISC Computers has helped to implement the first wireless broadband internet access service on a UK train.

The VAR, working with Swedish wireless data communication firm Icomera, was selected for the implementation by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER).

It has also won a £180,000 three-year contract to provide hardware maintenance and support to the train operator.

The Wi-Fi service will undergo a three-month trial on a GNER East Coast mainline train running between London's Kings Cross, Aberdeen and Inverness.

If the trial is a success, GNER will assess plans for a roll-out across its entire fleet of refurbished diesel and electric trains.

Mike Blackett, account manager at ISC Computers, said: "We will also provide support for the servers on the trains."

Neil Atkinson, customer services manager at GNER, said: "[ISC] has won the maintenance contract for all of our desktops, laptops, printers and servers in stations, on trains and at our regional offices."

GNER is also piloting a Bluetooth-enabled iPAQ scheme on certain trains. Using the handhelds, train crews can request information on delays to provide better updates to passengers.

[email protected]