Has on train entertainment had its day?

[Agent_Squash]

I used to remember when travelling Virgin the constant announcements to download BEAM - but also row upon row of people actually using it (mostly with headphones on!)

On my two recent journeys with Avanti, it seems like on train entertainment has largely fallen out of favour - a definite contrast to how things were under Virgin.

I know that the Avanti Media portal isn't as slick as BEAM, and the announcements did go - but it seems to have near totally disappeared.

Have on train entertainment systems that seemed so in vogue a few years ago had their day?

 

[duncanp]

Since most trains have WiFi these days, and many people have phones or other portable devices, there isn't really a need for train companies to provide their own entertainment channels any more.

 

[greaterwest]

SWR had SWRStream which was silently discontinued fairly recently due to low usage. Can't say I'd used it in the past personally.

I remember the days of VOLO TV on FGW which was simply rubbish...

 

[Agent_Squash]

Since most trains have WiFi these days, and many people have phones or other portable devices, there isn't really a need for train companies to provide their own entertainment channels any more.

The WiFi on the West Coast is certainly sketchy at times... even in the quieter SP/First carriages!

 

[Parallel]

Chiltern Railways launched chil.tv a few years ago which I did use a couple of times. It was a fairly typical offering of some TV shows/films and possibly a few games too?

No idea if they're still offering it!

 

[Fyldeboy]

Fashions change and although I'm not one of them, a large proportion of the population can view sky or netflix or whatever on the move, rendering the limited selection available on operator services obsolete.

 

[Bletchleyite]

5G will kill it, as you'll be able to stream what you like as you do from home.

 

[Horizon22]

I imagine it has, yes. No doubt that Wi-Fi will only continue to get better, as well as better migration to more widespread 5G (and 4G of course) devices so that people can watch whatever they wish, rather than whatever the TOC has procured, no doubt in a piecemeal manor, likely to be relatively expensive with a limited selection, as opposed to the passengers being able to watch whatever they wish and at no cost to the TOC.

Even without better wi-fi / mobile signal, growing numbers of people will take a tablet or phone, download a film / programme onto their device before boarding and then watch it on the journey.

 

[Skie]

Beam was great if you’d not planned for the journey, though hit or miss towards the end of the franchise as the equipment seemed to be struggling.

Netflix, iPlayer and Amazon Video all offer downloads for offline play these days and with 4g/5g bandwidth being what it is, it’s easy enough to grab the latest shows ahead of your journey whilst at the station if you’d forgotten to do it at home.

West coast connectivity for all phone providers is awful, so I doubt people will be streaming. Perhaps the new Hitatchi units for Avanti will help as the 390s are faraday cages.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have worked on EE 4G pretty much the whole length of the WCML on more than one occasion. Streaming would be a little jumpy but the signal was fine.

 

[WizCastro197]

SWR had SWRStream which was silently discontinued fairly recently due to low usage. Can't say I'd used it in the past personally.

I remember the days of VOLO TV on FGW which was simply rubbish...

Unfortunately now SWR don't allow you to stream videos on YouTube Netflix Disney or Prime. What a missed opportunity as signal can jump in and out of the SWML I think maybe it was a different train but I'm pretty sure

 

[kristiang85]

I can't say I ever used any of the on train entertainment systems, so I haven't really noticed. Long journeys are perfect for a good book, in my old fashioned opinion.

 

[py_megapixel]

Is it just me who has never really managed to get one of these onboard entertainment things to work well enough to actually be entertaining?

Last time I was on Avanti I couldn't get it to actually show me the list of onboard media. I kept reloading the page, disconnecting and reconnecting the WiFi etc.... but then, it's a long time since I expected anything of Avanti's to actually work properly.

I tried on an ICE in Germany, and it told me I needed to update Chrome - which I duly did, to the latest version - and then the web page was too slow for me to actually stream anything.

The closest I ever got was on an SNCF TGV, but travelling within Germany, where everything seemed to be working properly but apparently they didn't have the rights to offer streaming outside France!

TPE was the strangest: apparently my device didn't support the required DRM protocols. It is Samsung Galaxy S9 with the standard Android installation for that device. Apparently it's secure enough for me to do my online banking on, if I so wished, but not to stream a low-resolution version of some random sitcom from years ago. I am not really sure what to make of that.

 

[Recessio]

Can't speak for trains as I rarely travel on the sort of Intercity style services that offer them (living in London and the Southern region), but I notice that on coach travel the equivalent systems have basically died off. Tried to use one once when I was running out of data on my mobile and it didn't even work anymore... Probably not high up on their list of repairs

 

[XAM2175]

Is it just me who has never really managed to get one of these onboard entertainment things to work well enough to actually be entertaining?

You bothered to try?

 

[py_megapixel]

You bothered to try?

Yes, read the rest of the post.

I'm not really sure what one could do, other than updating the relevant software and maybe trying to refresh the page. Fixing issues with the system is not really within the capability of the passenger!

 

[Energy]

Yes, read the rest of the post.

I'm not really sure what one could do, other than updating the relevant software and maybe trying to refresh the page. Fixing issues with the system is not really within the capability of the passenger!

Most don't work that well, Chiltern's WiFi was terrible last time I bothered. I don't bother connecting to the WiFi now, either download a show in advance or use 4G, I'd use the WiFi if it consistently worked... I've never used BEAM but it did seem to be an exception.

 

[NSE]

I never used them either and I also find on board WiFi sketchy. I have unlimited data so I just use that. Vast majority of my travel is in London or with the traditional NSE area so any signal black spots usually disappear pretty quickly. I’d probably pre-download something if I was heading to the Scottish Highlands or something.

 

[XAM2175]

Yes, read the rest of the post.

I'm not really sure what one could do, other than updating the relevant software and maybe trying to refresh the page. Fixing issues with the system is not really within the capability of the passenger!

Read "you bothered to try?" in the sense of "your even trying to use the system at all is more than I - and I suspect quite a few other people - would bother to do".

 

[py_megapixel]

Read "you bothered to try?" in the sense of "your even trying to use the system at all is more than I - and I suspect quite a few other people - would bother to do".

Ah, apologies, I read that completely the wrong way!

 

[WizCastro197]

Most don't work that well, Chiltern's WiFi was terrible last time I bothered. I don't bother connecting to the WiFi now, either download a show in advance or use 4G, I'd use the WiFi if it consistently worked... I've never used BEAM but it did seem to be an exception.

Yes Train Wifi is awful Southern's doesn't even working SWR isn't even worth it. Can't watch movies or anything. For a Child with a Tablet or iPad that doesn't have cellular capability what else are they going to do? They aren't going to read of course! "It's too boring" except for those slightly older children who know how to keep themselves entertained with whatever means. But I do think if they are certain restriction with wifi and all, The reinstating of the entertainment systems may be worth it.

I don't tend to use intercity operators that much part from EMR To Leicester but that's only an hour journey and if its anything like SWR wifi I tend to just stick with Data but that as well can get tricky...

 

[dk1]

Yes & no. GWR wifi seemed okay today & GA is usually pretty good too. I only pay £7 for my monthly phone/data and although can afford much more I'm tight as a duck's do da on such things. It comes in handy when I've not got my work tablet to tether from.

 

[peteb]

West Midlands trains had TV in some carriages, annoying and unnecessary........

 

[VauxhallandI]

Avanti Wi-Fi is a total waste of time between Euston and Manchester.
As for the at seat ordering system well it’s worked once in about 5 tried I tried it.

 

[Alanko]

5G will kill it, as you'll be able to stream what you like as you do from home.

There are 4G not-spots on the Edinburgh-Glasgow line. Continuous 5G coverage is a distant dream, unless Network Rail can be persuaded to support the installation of fibre back haul around their network.

Even getting 4G into tunnels seems like a Herculean task.

 

[dk1]

Yes & no. GWR wifi seemed okay today & GA is usually pretty good too. I only pay £7 for my monthly phone/data and although can afford much more I'm tight as a duck's do da on such things. It comes in handy when I've not got my work tablet to tether from.

Those Volo coaches where hideous really but quite revolutionary back in the day.

 

[43172]

I've found that GWR wifi is okay most of the time, 9 car 80x's can be hit or miss in standard wether it actually allows me to connect or not.

When outside of GWR-land generally i'll just not bother with a toc specific on train streaming service, often downloading podcast episodes or shows/films to watch or listen to prior to travel. The idea of a toc providing on train entertainment system was a good idea even 10 yeats ago, but with advances in 4G and 5G, as well as the number of apps for streaming shows it's probabily time to reitre on train streaming services and cast it to the history books.

 

[4COR]

5G will kill it, as you'll be able to stream what you like as you do from home.

4G is, in theory, better than many people already get on home broadband (in theory 4G is 100Mbps max), albeit reception dependent - this factor is unlikely to change in the near future, even in a 5G world, but the difference will be in the capability of devices to "get ahead" and buffer to overcome the "gaps" in connectivity.

Bizarrely, this works in favour of the "heavy" use of things like video streaming, which might be what some travellers are after, but doesn't work out as well for tasks such as remote desktop, video conferencing etc where it's more "realtime".

 

[joncombe]

I thought Beam was pretty good, a good choice of films that passed the time on some evening journeys. I found it worked quite well I think it only used the WiFi to connect to some sort of media system located on the train, so didn't depend on being in an area with 4G etc to connect to the internet. A shame it's gone in my view.

 

[Howardh]

I try to use Avanti's wifi, it's generally been OK but heavy useage like youtube or even radio stations is out. I've tried Avanti's app where you can read the papers etc but found that to be useless. Transpennine have something similar, you get an app thing when logging in and I've never got that to work. Could be because crossing the Pennines gives no chance of a wifi signal?

Regardless, I can't see the point for train "entertainment" nowadays. Offering free wifi is fine (and something I can thank Avanti for doing, was always a price in standard for Virgin) So they will probably install TV screens now on the back of seats....grrr....