Following the announcement of whizzy infrastructure plans to solidify the UK’s god-awful train Wi-Fi coverage once and for all, long-suffering commuters are breathing a collective sigh of relief. Rightly so – is there anything more infuriating than finding yourself hamstrung by patchy internet at just the moment when a crucial email needs sending, document uploading or call making?
On the other hand, is there anything more delicious than explaining “sorry, I’m on a train”, throwing your hands up, and surrendering to the mini digital detox – not just a precious reprieve, but one of the last remaining in our era of hyper-connectivity?
I guess it was only a matter of time; given the ubiquity of internet coverage today, trains (and planes — also suddenly Wi-Fi-ed to the nines) have long represented a weird blip in digital supremacy. Increasingly, we expect to be able to reach anyone, anywhere in the world, at any time – and while that’s certainly convenient, it’s also exhausting. Once, the question was where you could get internet access; now, it’s where you’re free from it.
Travelling used to entail stepping out of normal life – its conveniences, sure, but its obligations too; and with messages and apps otherwise pinging 24/7, the enforced tech-limbo of a train ride or flight became more novel than ever. With hours stretching ahead, people were driven to means of diverting themselves that they’d never normally bother with: downloading specific films, reading a book, or just daydreaming. Well, that’s the end of that – no, really.
