LOCAL

The information superhighway is heading underground – by 2016 Moscow’s metro will offer free Wifi to passengers.

Plans announced by transport bosses yesterday would see regular internet access working alongside the current 3G service currently available on the system.

And it means that even deep below the city, people will be able to keep in touch while on the move, RIA Novosti reported.

Up-to-date info

Among the potential benefits, apart from the opportunity to while away journeys browsing the web, is the creation of an interactive online map showing travelers exactly where they are in the network, and how quickly they will reach their destination.

Information about hold-ups and problems on the network could also be incorporated in future.

Artem Yermolayev, head of Moscow’s IT Department, said that it was possible a page displaying real-time information about services could be developed alongside the Wifi plans.

But he added that it was impractical to introduce internet-enabled terminals for public use, since the number of metro passengers was so huge.

Internet travel

At present metro users can access 3G internet services – but only sporadically.

The connections are frustratingly inconsistent, and at many stations they do not work at all, while experts say the orange Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line has the highest mobile web traffic.

On the buses, things are starting to change: the city announced plans to equip five vehicles on the 400K route with Wifi connections on a six-month trial basis. If popular this would be extended to the rest of Moscow’s bus fleet.

And internet access is now available at the major rail terminals and, since the start of the summer, in Gorky Park and Tsaritsyno.