Greater Anglia Tops Ranking of UK Train Operators for Onboard Connectivity
A new study has been published today that ranks the top 11 out of 28 UK train operators for onboard connectivity to identify which ones are the best for working on the go. The study examines everything from WiFi quality to the availability of plug sockets, punctuality, passenger satisfaction, complaints, rolling stock quality, crowding and cleanliness.
The research, which was commissioned by Uswitch, is based on feedback from the train operators, ORR Passenger Rail Performance data, rail user surveys, RailsMartr data and more. But it should be stated that the assessment of Wi-Fi quality doesn’t appear to have involved any actual internet connectivity testing and is thus more a summary of the service’s onboard capabilities (i.e. free vs paid wifi access, usage caps, the use of speed throttling etc.).
All the metrics were then standardised on a 1-10 scale for direct comparison. Each factor contributed equally to the overall weighted score, which is a little odd as we’d have thought WiFi quality to be of higher value than some of the other fields. Finally, the scores were summed to produce a ranking of operators from highest to lowest, highlighting the UK’s most work-friendly trains out of a top score of 70. Final figures were rounded to the nearest whole number.
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In addition, the study also included the results from a short survey of 500 UK train passengers, which was conducted in September 2025. The survey found that 86% of train users work at least ‘sometimes’ on their commute, while 33% stated they worked ‘very regularly’ and a further 14% said that they do so ‘every workday’. But this survey wasn’t used to help form any of the final scores below.
The Results
The best performing rail operator for working commuters was named as Greater Anglia, which offered free Wi-Fi on all trains with data allowances of 90-125MB and almost universal access to power sockets. Punctuality was found to be strong too, with trains arriving on time 83.8% of the time. Passengers also rated crowding (8/10) and cleanliness (7/10) highly.
The operator also uses modern rolling stock (10/10) and returns very low complaints per passenger-kilometre (9/10).
Table 1: The top UK train operators for working on the go
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| Rank | Train Operator | Service Reliability (/10) |
Crowding (/10) |
Cleanliness (/10) |
Plug Sockets (/10) |
Rolling Stock Age (/10) |
Complaints (/10) |
Wi-Fi (/10) |
Total Score /70 |
| 1 | Greater Anglia | 10 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 62 |
| 2 | LNER | 4 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 58 |
| 3 | Merseyrail | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 56 |
| 4= | Great Western | 6 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 50 |
| 4= | TransPennine Express | 2 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 50 |
| 6= | ScotRail | 7 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 49 |
| 6= | West Midlands | 7 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 49 |
| 8= | c2c | 9 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 48 |
| 8= | London Northwestern | 7 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 48 |
| 8= | Southern | 7 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 48 |
| 8= | Avanti West Coast | 1 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 48 |
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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This has to be a joke. The WiFi does not work on Greater Anglia and it has never worked. Suspect the ‘study’ was paid for by Greater Anglia.
I disagree, it certainly does work. and always has when i’ve tried it.
The trouble with these things is there will always be issues, and it’s never going to be 100%. Just because it worked for my doesnt automatically make it the best, just like it ‘never’ working for you doesnt automatically make it terrible/a joke. Too many variables at play.
@MrLanMan – Sorry I agree with Darren. It doesn’t work and has never worked. Commuters openingly mock the signage avertising it.
I pick up the train from Prittlewell and travel to London Liv Street three days a week, I have an personal Apple phone and work Samsung phone, it does not work.