Virgin Media chief hails 'truly historic moment' as Wi-Fi comes to Underground

London Underground, the world’s oldest Tube network, is reported to be on track for plans to connect up to 80 Tube stations across the capital by the end of July in time for the London 2012 Olympics. A further 40 stations are expected to be live by the end of 2012. 

Victoria and Euston stations will be connected on 9 June, meaning passengers on the Victoria line will be the first to benefit from multiple Wi-Fi access.

Poster ads celebrating the arrival of the free internet service will feature on walls of the tube stations as and when connectivity is completed.

To use the Wi-Fi service, London Underground passengers just need to connect to the service and register their email address.

Access to the internet will be free throughout the summer when visitors will be attending London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, but will be restricted afterwards.

All Tube passengers will have permanent, free access to Virgin’s "Wi-Fi portal", which will run up-to-the-minute TfL travel news and entertainment, travel and music content from media partners, Time Out, Spotify and MyMovies.net.

But after the summer, passengers wanting to surf the rest of the internet will have a choice of using daily, weekly or monthly pay-as-you-go services.

Subscribers of Virgin Media will be able to access full internet service across the Wi-Fi enabled Underground stations for free, as an additional subscriber benefit.

Neil Berkett, chief executive of Virgin Media, said: "This is a truly historic moment as we connect millions of Tube passengers to the wonderful world of the internet for the first time ever.

"Our plans for getting London Underground online were very ambitious from the start and, in less than just three months, we’ve launched a major new service, making London one of the world’s leading connected cities.

"By putting the power of Virgin Media’s next generation fibre optic network in the hands of Londoners and visitors, we’re able to showcase our great capital and celebrate a momentous summer."

Mayor Boris Johnson called the partnership with Virgin Media a "tremendous benefit", adding that building world class connectivity is "critical to supporting new businesses and the jobs they create, especially in the high-tech and creative sectors".

Included in Virgin's free Wi-Fi portal will be recommendations from Time Out, exclusive playlists from Spotify, and the latest trailers and red carpet news from MyMovies.Net.

Gareth Powell, director of strategy and service development at London Underground, confirmed the Wi-Fi service will come at "no cost to fare or tax payers".

 

London Underground stations planned for installation by the end of July 2012
Aldgate East	Elephant & Castle	London Bridge	St Paul's
Angel	Embankment	Manor House	Stepney Green
Archway	Euston	Mansion House	Stockwell
Arsenal	Euston Square	Marble Arch	Stratford
Barbican	Finsbury Park	Marylebone	Swiss Cottage
Bayswater	Goodge Street	Mile End	Temple
Bermondsey	Green Park	North Greenwich	Tottenham Hale
Bethnal Green	Hammersmith (District/Picc)	Old Street	Tower Hill
Blackhorse Road	Heathrow T1-3	Oval	Tufnell Park
Borough	Heathrow T4	Oxford Circus	Vauxhall
Brixton	High Street Kensington	Paddington (Main)	Victoria
Caledonian Road	Highbury & Islington	Piccadilly Circus	Walthamstow Central
Camden Town	Holborn	Pimlico	Warren Street
Canada Water	Holland Park	Queensway	Warwick Avenue
Canary Wharf	Hyde Park Corner	Regents Park	Waterloo
Canning Town	Kentish Town	Seven Sisters	Wembley Central
Chancery Lane	Kings Cross/St Pancras	Southfields	Wembley Park
Charing Cross	Lambeth North	Southwark	West Ham
Clapham North	Lancaster Gate	St James's Park	Wimbledon Park
Covent Garden	Leicester Square	St Johns Wood	Westminster
Edgware Road (Circle)	Liverpool Street

Follow Arif Durrani on Twitter @DurraniMix

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk