The GNER rail line in Britain has Internet access on all its trains: The East Coast rail operator announced that it would expand service ahead of schedule, based on positive feedback. I spoke this summer to the head of the joint venture between GNER and Icomera, the Swedish developer of this particular technology, and he spoke glowingly of the uptake by their customers; once service was running on some trains, it became a drumbeat to get it running on all trains. One factor in adding service earlier was the boost to cellular uplink capacity via UMTS/HSDPA that was rolled out across parts of the service area in recent months.
GNER now has Wi-Fi-based access on 41 trains; the Swedish operator SJ has Wi-Fi on all its 42 trains. (GNER claims the world's largest operation based on carriages equipped.) Service fees run from £2.95 for 30 minutes to £9.95 for a full day in coach. First-class passengers pay no fees.
The UK operator for First Great Western and First ScotRail, First Group, told ZDNet, "The move in technology with handheld devices like BlackBerrys means not everyone wants to use laptops on trains." Which means that they haven't thought about the implications of having a high-speed network onboard--they're only thinking about the backhaul link, a major mistake, as it ignores using VoIP within trains for operational purposes, as well as surveillance video, and entertainment services, to name a few other options. And comparing Blackberrys to laptops--well, Blackberrys may be great, but every business traveler on a train is carrying a laptop, anyway.