Trivia: Significant gaps in mobile coverage (and wifi) on the rail network.

[PTR 444]

Throughout my regular travels from Poole to Southampton and back, one thing I have gained knowledge of is the pattern in which mobile data cuts out (FYI my provider is Tesco). The biggest gap with no coverage whatsoever for me is between the tunnel just west of Hinton Admiral and a point just east of Ashurst. On a fast train, I have no access to the internet* on this portion apart from a short stint at Brockenhurst when the train stops there. On semi-fast and stopping trains I would also get a tiny bit of internet connection at New Milton.

The cutting between Parkstone & Branksome and Branksome viaduct & Bournemouth can also be temperamental. While sometimes I have been able to get a signal at these locations, usually the data is the slower 3G rather than 4G.

What other significant mobile network gaps are there on the National rail network? Also including entire internet gaps if the train has poor wifi as well.

* I don’t use SWR’s wifi as it is so slow and intermittent, that on average it’s much quicker to use mobile data.

 

[Agent_Squash]

Between Bristol and Birmingham on XC - not helped by the Voyagers being faraday cages!

 

[XAM2175]

Of all the lines I've used in Britain the Portsmouth Direct is the one that was most surprisingly bereft of coverage on Vodafone - even the Highland Main Line was better!

 

[DelW]

* I don’t use SWR’s wifi as it is so slow and intermittent, that on average it’s much quicker to use mobile data.

I don't know how recently you've tried it, but SWR's wifi seems to have improved markedly within the last year. Like you, I never used to bother as the login process was so cumbersome and the connection so slow, but the former has been simplified and the speed seems to be at least comparable with other operators now.

Of all the lines I've used in Britain the Portsmouth Direct is the one that was most surprisingly bereft of coverage on Vodafone - even the Highland Main Line was better!

For me, coverage anywhere south of Godalming is poor, and south of Haslemere pretty much non-existent, until nearing Havant. This despite there being a mast cunningly disguised as a monkey puzzle tree, alongside the line near Milford!

 

[FuzzyDuck]

One of the reasons I have a regular SIM with one provider and an eSIM with another.

 

[mike57]

Leaving York towards Malton has some long dead spots, looking at the geography its not unexpected. I have a 3 and an o2 sim and they both drop out in the area of Kirkham Abbey. One the unexpected spots where you get a signal that you are not expecting is the Standedge Tunnel, from the Manchester direction the signal gets weaker, but continues to work good 2 miles into the tunnel on 3

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Don't know whether this is just a coincidence, but I frequently struggle to get any mobile data coverage whilst travelling in the First Class compartments on Class 450s. Never seem to have any trouble on 455s on the same routes.

 

[bnc2018]

Between Banbury and Oxford the mobile phone signal drops out in the Tackley/Heyford area. It happens on the 165s so it can't just be the voyager's fault. Always seems surprising for somewhere that's fairly flat and relatively densely populated for the countryside

 

[chris_in_salop]

Wellington Telford West seems to be a black hole for mobile reception, at least for O2.

 

[johnnychips]

On the Doncaster-Sheffield run, it can be poor between Balby and Conisbrough (cuttings and tunnel) and Aldwarke Jct. and Rotherham Central (not sure why). It is worse on XC and TPE than Northern, not sure why either. I find XC Wi-Fi excellent (and Northern if I need it), TPE not so.

 

[Jimini]

Between Banbury and Oxford the mobile phone signal drops out in the Tackley/Heyford area. It happens on the 165s so it can't just be the voyager's fault. Always seems surprising for somewhere that's fairly flat and relatively densely populated for the countryside

That was my first thought too in response to the original question aye. Pretty much nothing on either EE or O2 between those two points (in my experience).

 

[RailAleFan]

EE south of Crewe around Basford Hall

 

[thenorthern]

Rural lines in cuttings are the worst for coverage as mobile phones don't like hills, given the topography of the United Kingdom that is most rural lines outside the Fens.

 

[A S Leib]

EE between Kidwelly and Swansea.

 

[sk688]

Lots of large-ish gaps between MK and Watford Junction for me , and it's worse on a Pendolino , but then again I am on 3 which has a notoriously bad network

 

[nlogax]

Raynes Park to Earlsfield is still problematic but better than it was. Any improvement may just be down to trains being not as busy post-pandemic and fewer passengers latching onto signal.

 

[Train Maniac]

For some odd reason, my phone refuses to connect to anything while passing through Ipswich. (Probably due to Stoke hill i assume?)

There is also an incredibly frustrating dead spot from Basingstoke to Winchester, not helped by poor connection on SWR trains in general.

 

[MontyP]

Raynes Park to Earlsfield is still problematic but better than it was. Any improvement may just be down to trains being not as busy post-pandemic and fewer passengers latching onto signal.

It's definitely still problematic, all the way to Clapham Junction, not just to Earlsfield.

It's also almost impossible to get a decent data signal (3G/4G, never mind 5G) on O2 whilst standing on the platform at Raynes Park.

 

[scotrail170407]

Practically all of the section from Bridge of orchy - Tulloch (around 30 miles) has no signal although that’s hardly surprising given you’re crossing some of the most remote stretches of railway in the country

 

[Peter0124]

The tunnel after Bridgeton, until about Trongate (just before Argyle Street) is uncovered for me, same for shortly after Glasgow Central Low Level until Exhibition Centre and the Kelvinhaugh Tunnel.
The tunnels on the North Clyde don't work either.

Sections between Mount Florida and Queens Park no signal.

I use EE and actually get very good signal in Glasgow Central Low Level and Argyle Street stations, which I think for some other networks don't get.

St Pancras Low Level doesn't give me a service at all unless you try and use the stations WiFi which can be a bit hit and miss.

 

[mrmartin]

Would be interesting if there was a dedicated map for this (for each operator). Cellmapper is quite good but bit hard to make out the lines with all the other roads.

On Paddington to Cardiff on most networks for data... Everything up to swindon is good, then between swindon and newport pretty useless/patchy, then good for the final bit. EE again the best by far. O2/Vodafone seem to only have 3G on many of the rural masts which cover these lines, which must get completely saturated when a train goes past as despite having good service, very little data flows. Phone calls work ok though.

Conversely the entire WCML is pretty hopeless for me because of the Class 390s. Even in stations in busy areas with no obstructions its hard to get a signal (as in bars, not data flows). I hope they are going to put leaky feeders into HS2 and boosters down the line.

I do wonder what the productivity RoI of installing proper mobile equipment down mainlines (at least) would be. There are loads of people working on trains and having no signal really kills your ability to work. NR already has very solid GSM-R down all the lines so the towers and power is there (unless I'm mistaken?) so surely bolting on a few commercial operators would not be hugely expensive (famous last words).

 

[XAM2175]

The tunnel after Bridgeton, until about Trongate (just before Argyle Street) is uncovered for me, same for shortly after Glasgow Central Low Level until Exhibition Centre and the Kelvinhaugh Tunnel.
The tunnels on the North Clyde don't work either.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that short sections in tunnels are not significant gaps.

 

[Peter0124]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that short sections in tunnels are not significant gaps.

Even if they arent significant I still wanted to post it anyway

 

[XAM2175]

Even if they arent significant I'm still free to post my suggestions

The word "significant" does appear in the title of the thread, though!

 

[MCSHF007]

Very poor on the Midland Main Line between Derby and Chesterfield. Not helped by the well-documented 220/221/222 issue.

 

[Bill57p9]

Practically all of the section from Bridge of orchy - Tulloch (around 30 miles) has no signal although that’s hardly surprising given you’re crossing some of the most remote stretches of railway in the country

Except Vodafone which has coverage in that area, albeit limited to 2G

 

[Elecman]

I do wonder what the productivity RoI of installing proper mobile equipment down mainlines (at least) would be. There are loads of people working on trains and having no signal really kills your ability to work. NR already has very solid GSM-R down all the lines so the towers and power is there (unless I'm mistaken?) so surely bolting on a few commercial operators would not be hugely expensive (famous last words).

There is very little likelyhood of using the existing masts for commercial networks as they were all installed under Permitted development rights so none has council planning permission

 

[stuu]

Taunton-Newbury has a lot of gaps in mobile coverage, and GWR's abysmal wifi doesn't help (GWR wifi is rubbish everywhere though)

 

[miklcct]

What other significant mobile network gaps are there on the National rail network? Also including entire internet gaps if the train has poor wifi as well.

Are there any mobile receptions in long stretch tunnels in the National Rail network?

 

[GusB]

Taunton-Newbury has a lot of gaps in mobile coverage, and GWR's abysmal wifi doesn't help (GWR wifi is rubbish everywhere though)

I'm not completely au-fait with the workings of train (or bus) wi-fi but, as I understand it, it still relies on having some kind of mobile signal.

Living in rural parts I've found that, once you're away from population centres, mobile signals degrade significantly. Although it has been some time since I travelled by train, I found that I lost signal quite frequently along the Aberdeen to Inverness route in some places. It seems to be okay where the line follows the A96 trunk road, but there are a few places where road and rail separate and it tends to be in these areas where mobile reception is poor.

I've been with Three as my network provider (my service provider is now iD Mobile) for some years and I've been happy with general coverage for years but since they stopped having 2G fallback (T-mobile, I think) I noticed that I was losing signal more often. I went as far as buying a dual SIM phone to try to cover the gaps but this isn't an ideal solution when the vehicle you're travelling on is moving too quickly to be able to lock on to a specific signal. Sometimes you've just got to shrug and accept the fact that if there's no population, there's no signal!