Free Wi-Fi and phone charging arrive on every Wrenhaven tram

Passengers on Wrenhaven's trams can now use free Wi-Fi and charge their phones on every vehicle in the fleet, after an eight-month upgrade completed this week. Wrenhaven Tram fitted routers, antennas and charging sockets to all 46 trams, working overnight in the Northfield depot so that no vehicles were taken out of service during the day.

Each tram has two routers that combine signals from several mobile networks, which the operator says keeps the connection stable even in the cutting between Millbrook Junction and the city centre, where phone reception has long been patchy. Charging points, with both standard and newer USB sockets, are mounted beneath the windows in each seating bay.

Engineering director Hamish Gilchrist said the project had cost €2.3m, funded jointly by the operator and a city council transport grant. "Passengers have been asking for this for years," he said. "Many people use the journey to work, study or just keep in touch, and a flat battery or no signal makes that impossible."

Crowding data on the way

The new equipment will also allow trams to report how full they are. Sensors on the doors already count passengers boarding and leaving; from next spring that data will be shown on the Wrenhaven Tram app and on screens at major stops, so travellers can see whether the next tram is busy and choose to wait for a quieter one.

If you can see the next tram is half empty and only three minutes behind, you might let the crowded one go.

The operator says it does not collect names or browsing data from the Wi-Fi service and that users need only accept the terms of use to connect. Sessions are limited to two hours at a time, and streaming video is slowed at busy periods to keep the service usable for everyone. The same equipment will be fitted to the new trams due to run on the Northfield extension.