Free Wi-Fi is to be rolled out on EVERY tram across the Metrolink network under a landmark plan unveiled this week, MM can reveal.
A project laid out by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) could see the entire fleet of trams installed with Wi-Fi by March 31 2015.
Metroshuttle buses operating in Manchester City centre will also be fitted with the service, which will allow passengers to get online with Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices as they travel.
Details of the plans are revealed in a document produced by Salford City Council, which is managing the project’s funding budget.
It explains: “[Wi-Fi equipment] must be installed and operational, and payment defrayed, by 31st March 2015 on all 20 buses and on the 94 trams that will be in service by that date.”
Manchester councillor Chris Paul, a member of the TfGM Committee, told MM: “[It’s] going to be a lot better for everyone that relies on digital communication and it will hopefully help people who are excluded at the moment to have an easier job affording to be connected to the digital world.”
Funding for the scheme was initially set at £700,000, but has now been extended by a further £1million.
The plans come after a trial in which a single tram was fitted with Wi-Fi in August of last year.
It has also been revealed that an additional 10 trams will be added to the Metrolink service between April and October 2015 – bringing the total up to 104.
Cllr Paul added: “It may be the little thing that nudges some more people out of cars on to trams.”
Matthew Kershaw, Regional Manager at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “As connectivity becomes more important to our economy, anything that increases people’s ability to access internet services is to be welcomed.
“As long as people take their digital security seriously, services such as Wi-Fi access on the Metrolink service are a useful tool.”
Image courtesy of Oran Viriyincy, with thanks.
