Free WiFi may be a thing of the past soon on Dutch trains, not by being discontinued but from being neglected to uselessness.
The Dutch rail operator NS, facing operating losses of its own, is no longer investing in its 15-year-old WiFi system and would like to get rid of it. But, a spokesperson told the Telegraaf newspaper, “It’s still being used, and we have to offer it according to the concession,” which is the contract between the Dutch state and its state-owned rail company.
NS says that use has dropped from 7.6 million users a month to 3 million, and says the drop is caused by privacy concerns about public networks and that most people have connections through their phone services that are better than the NS WiFi, which is rated as best suitable for checking emails and messages, when it isn’t down.
Despite this, the travelers’ association Rover is against the idea of cutting NS’s WiFi service. “Those 3 million logins per month show that the need is still high. Moreover, if you offer traveler information digitally, you also have to offer internet. The question then is, do you abolish it because it’s so bad, or do you improve it? And why, for example, isn’t there WiFi at stations, where you want to be able to look up your journey if the screens aren’t working?”
Ironically, NS’s wish to end WiFi is coming at a time when other rail operators are offering new service or upgrading existing networks
