London Midland has officially launched a free 4G onboard entertainment and Wi-Fi service. Passengers travelling on London Midland’s long distance services to Euston, Birmingham, Crewe and Liverpool will have access to movies, TV shows, games, magazines and Wi-Fi. The service will also be available on local routes between Wolverhampton and Walsall and Lichfield to Redditch. The new passenger experience platform is powered by Internet connectivity pioneers Icomera, working alongside transport entertainment content specialists, Whoosh Media.
Thanks to new studio-approved software, Hollywood film and entertainment content is available directly through the passenger’s web browser on their own device, as soon as they connect to the free train Wi-Fi. This unique feature on London Midland trains eliminates the traditional need for passengers to download a separate app to view popular blockbusters. The new service can deliver a variety of entertainment features directly to passengers’ phones, tablets and laptops.
Free-to-use on all devices, passengers will be able to watch a range of the latest Hollywood movies such as The Girl on the Train, top family entertainment like Peppa Pig, fifty hours of NOWTV shows and more than eight hours of kids’ favourites from Cartoon Network. The service also offers top magazines, games, eBooks and audiobooks, with real-time journey information coming soon.
David Gornall, head of Innovation at London Midland, said: “London Midland is committed to making travel simpler, better and easier for our customers. This is a genuinely exciting development that is easy to use and will change the way people think about travelling with us.”
Dave Palmer, managing director of Icomera UK, said: “We’re very pleased to be implementing this forward-looking 4G Wi-Fi and entertainment roll-out with London Midland. Hosting these two complementary services on our technology platform ultimately makes Wi-Fi and media content much more accessible, enriching the passenger’s journey.”
Edmund Caldecott, managing director of Whoosh Media, said: “We’re excited to be working together with London Midland and Icomera to deliver this innovative onboard entertainment solution. Approved by both 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros, this is the first studio-approved, browser-based DRM of its kind in the world.”
About Icomera
Icomera is the world’s leading provider of open Internet connectivity and application platforms for passenger transport and public safety. Its award-winning products are deployed on rail, road and sea, serving millions of Wi-Fi users every week across the globe and providing high-speed access for fleet tracking and mission-critical onboard systems. Icomera is headquartered in Sweden with wholly owned subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, United States, France and Germany, and channel partners worldwide.
