East Midlands Trains passengers are now benefiting from better mobile phone coverage on trains to London following a partnership with Vodafone UK. Special equipment is being installed on each of the train operators 27 Meridian trains to strengthen and improve mobile phone signal.

The first phase of the project has seen East Midlands Trains engineers in Derby install special mobile phone signal boosters to all six of the seven-car Meridian trains. These trains are used on key services to and from London St Pancras, meaning that all passengers travelling from stations including Sheffield, Chesterfield, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Market Harborough, Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough will now benefit from enhanced mobile phone coverage.

David Horne, Managing Director for East Midlands Trains, said: “This investment allows passengers travelling on our trains to stay in touch on their mobile phones whether they are working or travelling for leisure. Passengers using our key services to and from London will see the immediate benefits and by early next year, this enhancement will be rolled out across all of our 27 Meridian trains.

“Our engineers have worked in partnership with Vodafone to install these boosters, which strengthen mobile phone signals, ensuring a stronger and more constant reception.

“Already, all of our trains to London have on-board Wi-Fi and by improving mobile phone signals this helps to enhance the customer experience and allow travellers to work even more efficiently or stay in touch with family, friends or colleagues whilst on the move.”

Peter Boucher, Enterprise Commercial Marketing Director at Vodafone UK, said: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with East Midlands Trains. Our customers have told us that coverage on trains ranks very high on their list. Now they can keep up to date on what’s most important to them – friends, family and their online lives even on the daily commute or trip into town.

“Equally, business customers are finding better ways of working as they can stay connected so they have the flexibility to work from wherever they need to be. This activity is part of our on-going commitment to providing Britain with the best network.”