Free WiFi has recently become available on the Amtrak Cascades service, much to the delight of passengers. The cross border route, from Vancouver, Canada through to Seattle, Portland and Eugene, Oregon, is operated by Amtrak and the states of Washington and Oregon.

The Wi-Fi service has been delivered by Nomad and installed by train builder Talgo, following a contract in 2010. Amtrak Cascades follows the successful launch of the passenger Wi-Fi service on the Amtrak Acela fleet in March 2010, also supplied by Nomad, and uses their aggregation technology to make use of the simultaneous bandwidth on all 3G networks.

Wi-Fi access has been the most requested service on the route by Amtrak Cascades passengers, which has seen more than 838,000 travellers in 2010. Passengers are now able to access their corporate VPN (Virtual Private Network) and also use the service for general browsing, via laptop, smartphone and other Wi-Fi enabled devices. The seamless cross-border Wi-Fi service means passengers with iPhones in particular, can wave goodbye to international cellular data roaming charges.

The Wi-Fi service is part of a refurbishment programme to extend the service life of the trains to 2029. Part of the refurbishment is to upgrade the video and audio systems. This includes a new passenger information system supplied by Nomad which allows travellers to view real time journey information.

"Talgo has been the provider of next generation passenger trains on the route since 1994 and is pleased to work with the states and Amtrak to update the trains and give many more years of service "commented Ferran Canals, Capital Projects Division Manager at Talgo USA.

Nigel Wallbridge, CEO of Nomad commented, “We are pleased to continue to provide next generation solutions for our customers. Being connected onboard with Wi-Fi and kept up to date by a new passenger information system means Amtrak Cascades passengers get another step up in the quality of their journey”

Media: for further information, contact Maria Walker from Nomad on + 44 (0)7889 363193 or e mail press@nomadrail.com, and Vickie Sheehan, WSDOT on +1 360 705 7904.