Bringing Reliable Wi-Fi to Scotland’s Most Remote Railways — How Starlink and Smart Networking are Changing the Game
If you’ve ever tried to join a video call while travelling through the Scottish Highlands, you’ll know the frustration: the Wi-Fi drops out, the speed slows to a crawl, and streaming is out of the question.
For passengers, it’s an inconvenience. For rail operators, it’s a challenge that affects customer satisfaction, safety, and operational efficiency.
Recently, Network Rail, Neos Networks, and Freshwave announced a £300m investment to deliver 1,000km of trackside network connectivity on key routes like the East Coast Mainline, Chiltern Mainline, West Coast Mainline to Manchester, and the Great Western Mainline.
That’s fantastic news for those lines — but what about Scotland’s Far North, Aberdeen, and Kyle of Lochalsh routes, where trackside connectivity is far harder to deliver?
The Connectivity Challenge in Rural Scotland
These routes may not be as long as the Trans-Siberian, but they run through vast, sparsely populated areas where building and maintaining trackside infrastructure is expensive and logistically difficult. For now, the budget and appetite simply aren’t there.
That’s where Starlink comes in. SpaceX’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation offers a cost-effective alternative to trackside 4G/5G. Working with Clarus Networks and the Scottish Futures Trust, ScotRail has deployed Starlink antennas on six of its Class 158 fleet units.
Beyond Plug-and-Play — The Technical Hurdles
When the trial launched in May 2025, headlines celebrated the idea of satellite-powered Wi-Fi. But behind the scenes, there were complex engineering and cybersecurity challenges to solve. This was never going to be a “plug in the antenna and go” affair.
That’s where IP Performance came in. With over 15 years of experience working with the UK rail industry — and a few self-confessed rail enthusiasts on the team — we were well placed to help.
An Opportunity for a Full Onboard Upgrade
Because trains don’t get refits as often as kitchens or bathrooms, ScotRail used the opportunity to replace ageing onboard wireless, switching, and routing equipment.
Their depot engineering teams also wanted something more — real-time access to onboard systems and data such as CCTV, RETB, OTMR, HVAC, and RMD while trains were in service.
Previously, each of these systems operated on separate platforms, often only accessible once the train returned to a depot. The new goal was to bring them together onto a common, secure network — segmented and monitored to meet strict cybersecurity standards.
From Cybersecurity Brief to Full Platform Build
IP Performance was initially tasked with securing ScotRail’s interconnected onboard systems. But thanks to our strong working relationship and innovative approach, we went further — designing, building, and deploying a platform that not only met ScotRail’s goals but exceeded them.
Key Features of the Custom Platform
- Scalable: Centralised configuration for gateways, firewalls, and wireless access points allows easy rollout to the full Class 158 fleet.
- Repairable: Depot teams can rebuild equipment without deep specialist training, thanks to automation tools like Ansible and ZTP.
- Independent Operation: Each train connects directly to the internet via Starlink, without tunnelling all traffic back to a central data centre.
- Metadata Collection: Network metadata is analysed centrally for anomaly detection and reporting.
- Starlink Performance Tracking: Antenna performance is logged with GPS data to pinpoint service quality across the network.
- Onboard Network Statistics: Detailed per-network bandwidth utilisation reports.
- Live Location Tracking: Router GPS feeds location and speed to a central database.
- Onboard Content Filtering: Each train filters public Wi-Fi traffic locally to block objectionable content.
Why This Matters
For passengers, this means more reliable Wi-Fi on some of Scotland’s most challenging routes.
For ScotRail, it means better operational insight, faster troubleshooting, and the ability to scale the solution without costly refits.
It’s also a model that could be replicated for other rural or hard-to-reach transport networks, proving that with the right mix of innovation and engineering expertise, connectivity challenges don’t have to be show-stoppers.
If you’d like to discuss how IP Performance can help deliver secure, scalable connectivity solutions in complex environments — rail or otherwise — get in touch.
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‘Really engaging training, especially liked the simulation exercise. It sparked a lot of useful conversations, raised some questions but more importantly, ensured the Senior Management buy in for Cyber incident response ‘
Julie Davies,
Powsy County Council
