Bangladesh Trains Trial WiFi On Board Service

Bangladesh Railways has launched a pilot project to provide free WiFi on board some of its intercity trains. The state-owned operator says the trial is part of a national initiative aimed at expanding public access to the Internet across the country’s transport network. The move comes a mere ten years after WiFi was introduced at some main stations and talked about for trains.  

According to reports in the local press, a pilot project has been launched on the Dhaka–Chattogram–Cox’s Bazar train route and is employing Starlink satellite internet service and next-generation Power over Ethernet technology.

Bangladesh Railways says if successful, the service will be introduced on three more routes — Dhaka–Rajshahi, Dhaka–Sylhet and Dhaka–Khulna. The company operates across a complex national rail system, with no less than three separate gauges. In addition, the network, like the country itself, is divided in two by the Jamuna River, over which there is only one rail crossing.

The WiFi trial is being implemented through the Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited, which is an authorised sales agent of Starlink.

Initial reports indicate that the project seems promising, with peak performance coming in at 136Mbps for the download speed and 31Mbps for the upload and a latency of 31 milliseconds. However, while the government plans to install public access WiFi at several major railway stations and airports, it is not yet clear how much of the 3,600km of railway lines in the country will end up being covered by the on-train WiFi service.

Bangladesh Railways is the latest in a slew of train companies to test or even launch satellite-delivered on-train WiFi services. Previously, Brightline in the USA, ScotRail in the UK, Kazakhstan Rail and Lithuanian Railways have all used Starlink’s satellite system as a way of keeping trains connected to the Internet. Other train companies, including SNCF and Deutsche Bahn are known to be mulling a trial of similar services with either Starlink or rival LEO satellite companies such as Hughes/Eutelsat OneWeb and Amazon’s Project Kuiper.

The spread of on-board WiFi services, trackside wireless delivery and the increasing use of LEO satellites to boost connectivity will all be fully discussed at the 2026 WiFi on Trains Conference, hosted by BWCS in London (www.Traincomms.com ).

The Main Sponsors for Traincomms 2026 are Icomera, Huber+Suhner and Nomad Digital. Westermo, Hughes Europe, CGI and Unwired are also Sponsoring the Conference. Antonics is an Expo Sponsor.