Free Wi-Fi and contactless payments in Tallinn’s new trams

These are some of the steps to increase the allure of already free public transport in the Estonian capital

The newest CAF Urbos trams in Tallinn now have free Wi-Fi on top of other utilities for passengers, the Municipality announced. Tallinn City Transport began testing Wi-Fi devices on twenty environmentally friendly CAF Urbos trams in August 2019, and the last batch of the devices were installed this January.

According to Andrei Novikov, Deputy Mayor of Tallinn, providing free Wi-Fi is one of the steps aimed at increasing the attractiveness of public transport which has been free for Tallinn residents for some six years now. It is also a part of a broader set of activities to improve user-friendliness such as  adding the option of contactless payments and enabling passengers to validate their tickets via smartphones on board city vehicles.

“We also deal with adding screens with real-time data to more stops, adding new departures and opening completely new lines which all serve the same purpose,” added Novikov, quoted by tallinn.ee.

With download speed of 100 Mbit/s, the Tallinn City Transport Tram Wi-Fi boasts a pretty fast connectivity. Individual speeds may vary depending on the location of the tram and the number of passengers using the Internet at the same time.

Almost 30,000 people travel every workday on the Airport-Tondi route, served mainly by CAF trams. Many of them are tourists and the new free Wi-Fi connection will help them find quickly the needed information about their accommodation, city attractions etc.

Huge investments in free public transport

Tallinn City Transport Ltd invested a total of 53.4 million euros in 2015 and 2016 in the 20 new CAF Urbos AXL trams. The operator’s fleet comprises 529 buses, 70 trams and 50 trolley buses serving 83 public transport lines in the capital and more than 140 million passengers every year.

Tallinn is the first European capital that has abolished public transport fares for city residents. Since 2013 Tallinn residents and Estonian citizens aged 65 or over can ride for free on buses, trams, trolley buses and commuter trains within city borders.