Is wi-fi on UK trains really that bad? Here’s what I found

For some people, not having wi-fi when they’re travelling for leisure isn’t the end of the world. Maya Lane, 23, says she usually spends her train journeys reading or crocheting.

“We’re not people who are super online all the time,” Maya says about herself and her friend Safia Nazir, 26, as they travel to a modelling shoot.

But bad connection on trains is still annoying, she continues, especially when she’s trying to work.

“Sometimes people pick trains so they have the option of working while they’re travelling,” she says, adding that operators shouldn’t advertise their wi-fi as a benefit of rail travel if it is unreliable.

Some people have their own solutions – like Bhaav, 32, who often hotspots his phone data to his laptop. He’s tried to take work calls on trains before, but says it’s “almost impossible”. Sometimes his online documents don’t save and his instant messages don’t send, he says.

“Given the train prices, it’s pretty frustrating,” Bhaav says.