LIRR to Get WiFi?; UK Train Agency Allegedly Threatens Mobile Developers

The LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) is a commuter rail line that runs from NYC out to the Hamptons. Yesterday on our sister blog InsideTransit, we wrote about a proposal from Senator Charles Schumer. Schumer has reached out to the Long Island Rail Road to get WiFi access for passengers noting, “make commuting more productive and pleasant.” Apparently Obama’s stimulus funds can be used to pay for the $1,000 per train fee to get the access installed. If we can get WiFi on a plane, why not on a train as well? It appears many other commuter rail lines around the world have WiFi access already. No word if commuters will have to pay for the WiFi access.

Robert Andrews from MocoNews is reporting that the UK regulator is investigating whether the UK’s National Rail violated any rules when they forced some third-party mobile apps developers offline while pushing their own new mobile train tracking application. Interestingly, the two apps that were pushed offline were free while the “official” app is just over $8.

The two apps in question are the  UK Train Times mobile web app and the MyRail iPhone app.

Robert notes, “Now the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) says it’s ‘investigating the supply of Real Time Train Information (RTTI) (by NRE) under the Competition Act 1998, having been made aware of concerns in this area including from members of the public, and from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents. RTTI is a key input into the provision of live train running information to passengers through media such as train information websites or services accessed over mobile phones.’”

I’d love to see real time tracking for bus and train service in the U.S. — it would be a great way to create more usable time for passengers.