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WLAN in the ICE (archive image)
Photo: Friso Gentsch / dpa
Deutsche Bahn is expanding its Internet offering to include train stations and regional trains.
From now on, travelers can dial into the free WiFi network at around 100 train stations in Germany and should be connected to the same network both while waiting and while traveling on the train.
First of all, larger train stations such as Cologne, Munich and Hamburg will be included.
With Straubing, Trier and Sylt, however, smaller locations are also connected.
In the Frankfurt area and parts of Baden-Württemberg, the network will also be available in regional trains operated by Deutsche Bahn.
"This Internet accompanies you when you get on the train from the station," said Sabina Jeschke, the board member responsible for digitization and technology, in Berlin on Wednesday.
It is still there when you get off the train at another station.
So far, Deutsche Bahn has only offered free internet nationwide in its long-distance trains.
In the experience of many travelers, however, the WiFi connection can be interrupted more frequently there.
In addition, so far, passengers at train stations have often only been able to log into other, chargeable networks such as those from Telekom.
44 million for the Internet on the go
This shall be changed now.
The aim of the group is a uniform WLAN infrastructure, so that long-distance customers do not have to dial into a new network when they arrive at the train station.
The long-distance train network "Wifi on ICE" is gradually being replaced by "Wifi @ DB", which is already working in the trains.
The federally owned company had already announced the project at the end of last year.
Deutsche Bahn is investing around 44 million euros to equip initially 130 stations by the end of this year.
Jeschke said it will take a few years before regional traffic is also equipped accordingly.
Hope for 2022
According to the railway, bandwidths of more than 10 megabits per second can be downloaded at the stations.
On the train, the speed per passenger is 2 to 3 megabits per second.
How well the internet connection actually works on the go depends primarily on the expansion of the transmission mast along the routes.
The network operators with whom Deutsche Bahn is in close contact, according to Jeschke, are responsible for this.
There are still many dead spots.
The operators must remove these so-called white spots by 2024.
"Then hopefully this phenomenon will be over," said Jeschke.
Often the discs are to blame
The passenger association Pro Bahn rated the new service on Wednesday positively.
"The railway is certainly running late," said the association's honorary chairman, Karl-Peter Naumann.
"However, the technological challenges are also significantly greater."
But now the competitors in the local transport sector should also follow suit.
"Here we need uniformity, and this is where all rail transport companies have to get together so that the Internet is then also continuously available in local transport."
In principle, the railway is open to such cooperation, said a spokeswoman on Wednesday.
There are currently no discussions on this.
For 2021, the plan is initially to connect several hundred regional trains and buses from the company's own group to the new platform.
For many travelers in Germany, the Wi-Fi network on the train is also important because cellular reception on the route is still poor.
This is also mainly due to too few transmitter masts along the tracks.
Another reason is the heat-insulating panes on the express trains, which barely let the signal through.
The train therefore directs it - similar to WLAN - via antennas into the train, where it is distributed by so-called repeaters.
However, the company is currently experimenting with radio-permeable panes.
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