Wi-Fi on the SNCF trains: Not soon. Too costly.

Posted on October 22, 2014 by bill

Le Wifi dans le train ? Ce n’est pas pour tout de suite

Nouveau monde par Jérôme Colombain mercredi 22 octobre 2014

“Toc toc toc, la SNCF, à quand le Wi-Fi dans le train ?” C’est avec ce message sur Twitter plutôt insolite que la secrétaire d’Etat au numérique Axelle Lemaire a interpellé récemment la compagnie de chemins de fer. Pourquoi n’y a-t-il pas de Wifi dans les trains ? Pas si simple… “Knock, knock, knock, SNCF (Syndicat National Chemin de Fer, {French railways}), when will Wi-Fi be on the trains?” It is with this most unusual Twitter message that the secretary of State for digital communications asked the train company.

Du Wifi dans le train ? Il y en a déjà. Mais pas partout. Il est possible de se connecter à Internet à 300 km/ heure sur les lignes TGV entre Paris et l’Est de la France (Reims, Metz, Nancy, Strasbourg, etc.). Idem sur le Thalys vers les pays d’Europe du Nord. Cependant, cela ne marche pas très bien et ce n’est pas donné : comptez environ 5 Euros de l’heure.

Wi-fi on the trains? Already somewhat. But limited. It is possible to connect to the internet at 300km/hr on the TGV between Paris and the east of France (Reims, Metz, Nancy, Strasbourg, etc.). The same on Thalys (Belgium’s TGV) towards northern Europe. However, this doen’t work very well and it is not free: it costs about €5 per hour.
 
Pourquoi ne pas améliorer l’existant et le développer partout ? (Why not improve the current installation and develop it throughout the network?).

Parce que c’est cher ! C’est une question de gros sous. Equiper une rame TGV en connexion wifi coûte 350 000 Euros. La SNCF possède 800 rames. Faites le compte… 280 millions d’Euros. A l’heure où l’on parle plutôt de difficultés financières, d’économies et de baisse des tarifs du côté du TGV, autant dire que le Wifi n’est vraiment pas une priorité.
D’autant que les passagers ne sont pas prêts à payer. En tout cas, pas ce prix là.
Techniquement, c’est compliqué à réaliser (c’est pour cela que ça coûte cher). Il faut une connexion satellite, comme en avion.
Bref, il n’y a pas de modèle économique pour la SNCF.

Because it is expensive! It is a question of big money. To install Wi-fi connections in one TGV train costs €350,000. SNCF has 800 trains. Do the maths…€280M. At this time the talk is all about the financial difficulties, economies and lower TGV fares, so much to say that Wi-fi is not really a priority. Plus also that passengers are not prepared to pay. At least not at that price. Technically, it is difficult to install (that is why it is so dear). It needs a satellite connection, like an aircraft. Briefly, it is not an economic model for SNCF.
 

About bill

Worked in the technical / engineering area as a Science Laboratory Technician and as an Aeronautics Engineer. The artistic side involves writing under the nom de plume of Billy Olsenn, his recently written play 'A Case of Wine' was staged by the players group Straight Make-Up at the 2012 Birr one act drama festival. It's next staging was in the one act circuit is in Cavan, at Maudebawn on Sat 10 Nov 2012. Then it was performed in the Bray, Co.Wicklow at the very popular one act festival in January 2013. Next play is FEAR. A dark tale about revenge on the cruel death of two pensioners by young thugs. Neighbours hatch a devious and dangerous plan to exact old-style revenge. Bill is a member of the Drama League of Ireland and his plays have been critically vetted and certified as original pieces of work by the DLI. Another literary project is that of commemoration of an aircraft crash on Djouce mountain in Wicklow in 1946. Bill wrote articles for the 50th, 60th and most recently the 70th anniversary, (12 Aug 2016) all were published in the Wicklow Times and ensured the survivors of the crash, all French Girl Guides, were not forgotten. Articles reproduced on this website. But mostly this site gives a more general European and specific French slant on popular and not so popular articles of French news, translated to English by the author. Each article is translated on a paragraph by paragraph basis so easy to read in either language and even possible to improve either language by comparison of the short English and French paragraphs. Amusez vous bien. The author is currently writing an easy to read technical aviation book centered around the Fokker 50. Another interest is that dealt with in another of Bill's websites www.realnamara.net, a Statue of the mother of God, Mary. It was erected in 1972 in Dublin, at the end of the Bull Wall near Clontarf, and my grandfather William Nelson, was the main instigator of that project. I give talks on the history of the statue and my grandfather's adventurous and dangerous life at sea. Technical assistance with each website is by J O'N.
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