Is Starlink the Solution to Europe’s Terrible Train Wi-Fi?
There are few things more frustrating in this world than train Wi-Fi.
In 2025, practically every train operator in Europe provides free Wi-Fi to its passengers, but often it seems as though these provisions are Wi-Fi by name alone.
The experience is jarring. Being disconnected from the internet is an increasingly rare occurrence in today's connected society.
Despite years of promises from railway companies about seamless connectivity, the internet on Europe’s trains remains extremely patchy and slow.
But why, in this day and age, is this such a difficult problem to solve?
The problem of physics
The fundamental challenge at the heart of the train Wi-Fi problem is basic physics.
When trains hurtle through the countryside at 150mph, their onboard antennas struggle to maintain steady connections as they leap between mobile towers every 45 to 60 seconds.
This rapid handover creates what engineers call the Doppler effect – the same phenomenon that makes a passing ambulance siren change pitch.
Luke Kehoe, an industry analyst at connectivity intelligence firm Ookla, explains: "The performance and quality of Wi-Fi onboard European trains is very poor."
But the problem runs deeper than speed alone.
Many train carriages effectively function as Faraday cages, with metallised window coatings that block radio signals just like lift doors cut mobile calls.
Some train operators, like French transport giant SNCF, have started to acknowledge these issues upfront, rather than promising them the impossible.
"Due to the lack of coverage and our speed, the quality of the Wi-Fi may differ from that in your home,” SNCF says.
When operators throw in the towel
Some rail companies have simply given up the fight entirely.
Belgian operator SNCB abandoned plans for onboard Wi-Fi last year, citing "high implementation costs and coverage by telecom operators".
Instead, the company invested in "de-coating" window glazing and passed responsibility to mobile networks themselves.
"Telecom operators need to improve signal quality and coverage in the vicinity of railway infrastructure," says SNCB spokesperson Tom Guillaume.
The strategy highlights a broader industry dilemma: who bears the cost of making train internet actually work?
Europe's connectivity divide
Performance varies dramatically across the continent, creating a patchwork of user experiences.
Switzerland leads the pack by a country mile, delivering onboard Wi-Fi speeds nearly 30 times faster than Austria and the Netherlands.
Swiss trains are the only ones in Ookla's European sample to exceed 25 megabits per second – the minimum threshold for reliable internet use.
At the other end of the spectrum, Polish trains still rely on Wi-Fi 4 technology from 2009, offering bandwidth that feels positively prehistoric by today's standards.
The disparity reflects varying levels of infrastructure investment and regulatory approaches across member states.
Is Starlink the solution?
Rail operators are increasingly turning their gaze skyward for solutions.
Czech Railways is experimenting with Elon Musk's Starlink constellation, while France's SNCF reportedly eyes both the American network and Franco-British rival Eutelsat.
Satellite connectivity offers clear advantages for filling coverage gaps, particularly through tunnels and remote areas where terrestrial networks struggle.
However, space-based solutions are far from a silver bullet. "So much of the focus is about getting the signal to the train, but they have forgotten about getting the signal around the train," Luke explains.
The challenge extends beyond signal acquisition to distribution within carriages themselves.
The promise of 5G
Industry hopes rest partly on a large scale 5G rollout transforming rail connectivity, but the physics remain problematic.
The frequency bands commonly allocated for 5G in Europe struggle to penetrate foliage—a significant issue given that railway lines often cut through heavily wooded areas.
Ookla data shows mobile network performance degrading significantly each summer in areas with dense vegetation.
Add Europe's thousands of railway tunnels to the mix, and even next-generation networks face an uphill battle.
Nevertheless, plans have been laid to bring 5G to rail routes around Europe. In June, the UK announced Project Reach, which aims to improve connections along some of the country’s most important railways.
The project is not expected to be completed until 2028, however, which will do little to stem the ire of Britain’s commuters.
Regardless of the timeline, it is a technology that many of the country’s workers and business owners are excited about.
Speaking to the BBC, Alan Thomas, CEO of business insurer Ripe Thinking, said that better connections could be a game changer for productivity.
"Maybe it's only a couple of hours on the train but that work time – if you can turn it into work time - is actually genuinely very, very helpful for our people.”
